Minnesota Republican state rep incorrectly listed as Democrat on ballot: 'errors made by the Secretary of State’s Office'

A Minnesota GOP state representative has been marked as a Democrat on ballots as the first day of early voting has started in the state. Secretary of State Steve Simon, a Democrat, oversees the elections in the state.

According to a press release from state Rep. Peggy Bennet, she "is already losing votes thanks to ballot processing errors made by the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office." She was alerted to the issue when a "supporter contacted her asking when she became a Democrat."

In response, Bennet posted with a press release, "Faribault County 23A voters: No, I have NOT switched over to the Democrat Party despite what the error on your ballot says. I have always been, and will continue to be, a Republican who will fight for your rights and freedoms!" A sample of the misprinted ballot was available on the Secretary of State’s website.

"On the heels of the news that more than 1,000 non-citizens were put onto Minnesota’s new automatic voter registration system, Faribault County voters in House District 23A are now being handed ballots that have messed up my party affiliation,” Bennett said in the release. “It is just disappointing that these ballots weren’t doubled checked for errors by the Secretary of State’s Office before being printed. Election integrity matters, and distributing inaccurate ballots to the county certainly undermines election integrity in our state.”

Simon gave a statement in response to the accusations about the error: "The Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State is aware of a localized ballot error impacting Faribault County voters in State Representative District 23A. The ballots incorrectly identify the candidates’ parties."

The statement added, "This error is limited only to ballots issued by Faribault County. The ballots for State Representative District 23A issued by Freeborn, Steele, and Waseca counties accurately list the candidates’ parties.” The office promised to take steps to “ensure this mistake is remedied.”