Minnesota Rep. Steve Jacob urges Zumbro Falls residents to vote with new ballot following ballot error

By KAALTV

(ABC 6 News) — Minnesota Rep. Steve Jacob is urging Zumbro Falls residents to vote with a new ballot that has been mailed to their homes.

On September 24, those residents received a ballot that incorrectly listed Minnesota House District 20A candidates as their choices for state representative.

However, the City of Zumbro Falls resides in Minnesota House District 20B, thus meaning the two choices available for that race were not accurate. Rep. Jacob represents District 20B.

“It is imperative that Zumbro Falls residents use the new ballots to vote, even if they voted previously with the incorrect ballot,” Jacob said via a press release. “If you are still sitting on the ballot you received in September, throw it away and use the new one that you’ll find in your mailbox.”

Complicating matters, according to Jacob, is that voting by mail is the only way Zumbro Falls residents can vote. If a resident already voted with the original – and incorrect – ballot, it will not be counted.

Because of the major ballot error, an order from the Minnesota Supreme Court was needed to issue a new corrected ballot prior to Election Day. Jacob said that has now occurred, and new ballots for Zumbro Falls were mailed on October 8 and are arriving in mailboxes.

“The Zumbro Falls ballot issue speaks to the concerns people have with election integrity,” Jacob said via a press release. “Now, there are two sets of ballots floating around with all the other candidates’ names on them as well. How can the government tell people that their ballot is secure and anonymous while at the same time, tell people they can track each ballot to know if that ballot should be rejected due to being improperly printed?”