UPDATE, June 23: a reader asked in the comments section (below) about the number of Hubbard County precincts that use the mail ballot option Minnesota law provides for small cities and townships with "less than 400 registered voters located outside of the Minneapolis/St. Paul seven-county metropolitan area." Our answer in a new post, Only Steve Green gets the blues: Hubbard County's list of 2020 polling locations includes bunches of mail ballot townships, is ten. [end update]
After a day of gardening, animal husbandry, and lawn care, we returned to catch up on Minnesota politics, after the abrupt close of the special session by the Republican-led senate. Lots of coverage of that, at MinnPost, there's Minnesota Legislature ends special session without deal on policing reforms. No bonding bill either.
Perhaps the most remarkable article in today's reading is a Park Rapids Enterprise article attributed to Representative Matt Grossell (see screengrab above), Reps. Green, Grossell criticize police reform, mail-in ballots, more.
Now, we suspect that's an editing error, but the copy does suggest that Grossell and Green may have developed a yearning to follow the lead provided by Grossell's DFL opponent, a local theater leader who has published a couple of works of dystopian literature, including The Book Of Q, which begins at the Annihilation of Bagley.
At least Liend knows it's a work of the imagination.
We're not so sure about the material the area Republican leaders shared with the Hubbard County Commissioners last Tuesday. Some choice passages from the Park Rapids Enterprise article:
District 2B Rep. Steve Green (R-Fosston) and District 2A State Rep. Matt Grossell (R-Clearbrook) voiced their host of grievances Tuesday during a confab with the Hubbard County Board. . . .
Green said Antifa and Muslim organizations plan to “police Minnesapolis[sic] under Muslim rule.” He also claimed some House representatives have a bill that would impose eminent domain on every business destroyed during the George Floyd protests, the city would purchase them and “only sell back to people under conditions” imposed by the city.
“What you’re looking at, in my humble opinion, is communism moving into Minneapolis and St. Paul,” Green said. . . .
Green speculated that Walz’s goal is to implement complete mail-in voting “and remove the county and local precincts.”
“I don’t think there’s any question there’s voter fraud in Minnesota,” he continued. While most Minnesotans are honest, Green said he’s seen “the videos of busloads of people going from precinct to precinct.” When votes are verified later, “we’ve got into the tens of thousands that come back after elections that nobody lives where they were registered to vote.”
Green added he’s “never liked mail-in ballots anywhere.”
Green claimed State Attorney General Keith Ellison “may try to close down all of northern Minnesota. I don’t think that would bother him a bit.”
Well, jumping jihadists, Steve. We're curious where he saw those videos.There's talk of busloads here, but no video.
There's some wild stuff in there, but apparently the event did happen, as the draft summary of the June 16 county board meeting notes:
Minnesota State Representatives Steve Green (02B) and Matt Grossell (02A) addressed the Board concerning delays in distribution of CARES Act funds, and tentative agreements reached by the legislative caucuses. They provided additional information concerning law enforcement issues following recent civil unrest, proposed actions by Minnesota cities and Minnesota State Democrats, and a recent resolution passed by Becker County concerning reopening the county’s economy. Discussion followed concerning legislative barriers to rescinding the Governor’s Executive Orders,the permanent financial and psychological harm being done to Minnesotans, and the positive experiences in neighboring states that have not undertaken such drastic closure measure.
The meeting was accessible via the Go To Meeting app, so we're hoping video exists that we can add to this post. Not since our time in creative writing workshops at the Ozark Famous Writers School have we seen such an opportunity for imaginary fun.
Related posts
- State DFL responds to Matt Grossell Facebook post
- In early morning Facebook post, Matt Grossell frets about alter agenda coordinated attack
- Snipe hunt of war: Grossell spent night out with patriot buds waiting for phantom buses.
- Beltrami Co. Sheriff addresses rumors and misinformation; Grossell presence confirmed
- Was Minnesota state representative Matt Grossell out with vigilantes during Bemidji curfew?
Screengrab: The beginning of the Park Rapids Enterprise article. BTW, Representative Green is an enrolled member of the White Earth Nation.
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It would be interesting to know how many (if any) of the voting precincts in Hubbard County utilize mail-in balloting per state statute and what they think about it. My relatives in Cass County who get to use it love(!) it. Perhaps the good Reps can explain why they feel it prudent to take that option away from them.
Posted by: Mike Worcester | Jun 23, 2020 at 09:54 AM
10 of 37 precincts in Hubbard County (27%) conduct elections by mail, according to the Hubbard Co. Auditor's webpage. That compares with 18 of 46 precincts in Becker Co. (39%).
Posted by: Terry Kalil | Jul 09, 2020 at 09:38 AM