The St. Francis City Council voted 4-1 on March 2 to request inclusion in Anoka County’s hand-counted post-election review for the 2026 election, saying the move would help demonstrate the integrity of the city’s elections.
Council Member Sarah Udvig cast the lone dissenting vote.
Anoka County currently conducts post-election reviews in eight randomly selected precincts, although state statute requires only four. Mayor Mark Vogel said St. Francis is requesting inclusion in the process to further demonstrate confidence in how ballots are counted.
Vogel said the city had already sent a letter to Anoka County about the request but had not received a response. He added that seven other cities had made similar requests.
Vogel said he did not understand why there would be resistance if cities were willing to pay for additional reviews.
“When the county does eight randomly, it’s only doing the top of the ballot,” Vogel said. “It doesn’t come down to city elections.”
Vogel said he did not believe election fraud had occurred in St. Francis but said additional review would help address concerns if problems ever arose.
Council Member Joe Muehlbauer said the resolution requests that if one St. Francis precinct is selected in the county’s random draw, all city precincts would be included in the review. If none are selected, the city would request that one precinct be added.
City Administrator Kate Thunstrom said the resolution mirrors similar requests adopted by other cities.
“This is the same resolution that many other cities use,” Thunstrom said.
Council Member Amy Faanes asked about the potential cost of expanding the review.
Vogel said the advocacy group ACEIT had estimated the cost at roughly a few thousand dollars.
Udvig said she was hesitant to support the resolution if the county ultimately declined to expand the review.
“I’m not in favor of putting things on the record just to put something on the record,” Udvig said. “Because we have no teeth behind it. It does nothing except to say we want to do it and Anoka County is saying no.”
Vogel said he hoped the county might represent the city’s request and appeal the issue to the state. Udvig said she would be more likely to support the resolution if the county took action.
Muehlbauer said the request is part of a broader effort among cities to advocate for expanded reviews.
Council members also discussed the challenge of recruiting election judges.
Udvig said many current judges are nearing retirement.
“It’s hard to get election judges,” Udvig said. “It’s hard. So when you start putting extra hours and some nights in without just waiting for everything to get done, these election judges who are 80 years old are out till 10, 11, 12 in the morning.”
Council Member Kevin Robinson said the county’s lack of response to the city’s letter was concerning.
“We’re willing to tow the line,” Robinson said. “And like Joe said, it’s from the bottom up. If enough people ask about it, maybe they’ll change their tune, but they didn’t answer. They haven’t replied at all.”
City Clerk Jenni Wida said each precinct must have four election judges and that recruiting workers can be difficult. Election days are long, particularly during general elections, which can last 16 to 18 hours.
Wida said the city has increased wages for election judges to remain competitive, but finding people willing to do the work remains the main challenge.
“Some of the people I do have, last minute, something comes up,” Wida said, “and then I’m in a frenzy to try and reschedule.”