(KSTP) — Hennepin County officials have fired a courier who left several boxes of ballots unsecured outside of Edina City Hall on Friday.

The discovery led to an immediate response from the county and city officials, who say it’s been confirmed no ballots were tampered with.

Hennepin County is describing those boxes as “sealed transfer cases” that were inside a courier vehicle parked at Edina City Hall.

Surveillance video released by the city shows the rear door of the van open for about eight minutes. That footage can be viewed in the video above.

A photograph taken by a man walking by shows those cases unsecured, in plain sight. The photo was later posted on X by user SD50MNGOP.

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS spoke on the phone with the man who snapped the photo of the open courier vehicle. He didn’t want his name released but said, “This is exactly what can’t happen,” and added that he has concerns about a fair and impartial election.

Meanwhile, Hennepin County Auditor Daniel Rogan says the county is taking corrective actions, saying, “Election security is of utmost importance, and Hennepin County will reinforce its transfer protocols with all county staff and vendors. An incident like this underscores the value of strong chain-of-custody processes so that risk can be addressed and integrity can be verified.”

Political science professor David Schultz isn’t mincing words about that open, unsecured van, saying, “My first thought was, this is really sloppy, incredibly sloppy, in terms of courier and delivery system.”

Schultz added that the courier “Should’ve never left the trunk open, so there’s all kinds of sort of chain of possession type of problems here.”

In a statement, Hennepin County says the footage shows the ballots inside were not tampered with during what’s called a “ballot transfer pickup.”

The county acknowledged the “lapse in protocol,” calling it “unacceptable” and adding that the driver has been terminated.

In addition, the county says all expected ballots have been accounted for.

County officials say staffers compared the ballots received by the courier with state records for absentee ballots accepted by cities and found a 100% match.

Officials added that absentee ballot envelopes inside the cases were in sealed condition.

Schultz says transparency about what happened here is vital, especially so close to election day. “It’s up to the officials, the election administrators at this point, Hennepin County and the state of Minnesota, to investigate, report, and convince not just the people of Hennepin County, but also Minnesota and probably nationwide.”

Read the statement from Hennepin County in full below.

“A Hennepin County courier vehicle was photographed on October 18 at Edina City Hall during a ballot transfer pick-up. The photograph showed the vehicle’s rear door ajar with ballot transfer cases inside. The protocol for transporting ballots is that they are to be secured at all times and Hennepin County has alerted its courier of this incident.

Hennepin County has reviewed the incident and determined that all expected ballots have been accounted for and found no evidence of tampering with sealed transfer cases. This is done by comparing the ballots received from the courier with the record in the Statewide Voter Registration System for all absentee ballots accepted by cities. The comparison demonstrated a 100% match, and this step is routine in the ballot integrity process, occurring with every transfer.

Staff have inspected individual ballots and determined that absentee ballot envelopes within the cases were received in sealed condition as well. This inspection is also a routine election integrity process.

Ballot transfer protocols ensure that every individual absentee ballot is tracked from issuance to acceptance, ensuring the integrity of absentee process, whether ballots are cast in-person or by mail.”

Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon issued the following statement on the matter:

This incident was totally unacceptable. The county has taken appropriate, swift, and transparent action to determine that no ballots were compromised and to ensure this will not happen again.  

The county has protocols in place for the delivery of signature envelopes, including security seals on the transfer cases, and verification that all signature envelopes remained sealed. The county has conducted a review to match the number of signature envelopes and verify that each individual ballot was accounted for and corresponded with the records in the State Voter Registration System.  

This is a reminder of the resilience of our entire statewide election system and the numerous layers of protection built-in to ensure our elections are free, fair, secure, and accurate.  

This is a teachable moment for everyone involved in administering our elections. To that end, our office has lent support to the county in their response to this incident and will continue to be available to support them and all other localities conducting elections. We have issued a bulletin to all localities to remind them yet again of chain of custody requirements and practices to ensure this incident is not repeated.