FROM PAGE ONE
NOVEMBER 3, 2016
ISANTI-CHISAGO COUNTY STAR
5
www.countystar.com
CLAIMS: One complaint denied, one undecided FROM PAGE I
SUBMITTED
Braham Area High School students vote in their recent mock election.
MOCK ELECTION: Braham and C-I students elect Trump students discover the importance of elections and the power of their votes in the democracy,” according to www.sos.state. mn.us, the Minnesota Secretary of State’s official website. According to Secretary of State Steve Simon, the lowest voting rate is among the younger voters, so Simon came up with an inter-connected experience where all students in Minnesota got the chance to vote. “Not only does this campaign help the students get familiar with the voting ballot,” Simon said, “but also lets them think of choices and what other students vote throughout the state.” Each high school in Minnesota was allowed to do elections their own way, either setting up a polling place or letting the students vote whenever possible. Students, who donned “I voted” stickers afterwards, voted for the presidential and vice presidential candidates. The state provided everything, including the stickers and the ballots. “I think this is setting good habits early,” said Simon. “It makes the students more likely to vote and make a lifelong habit of it.” THE MOCK ELECTION RESULTS Besides giving students an opportunity to go through a close representation of a real election, the campaign gave an interesting look into the political thoughts of students and will make for an interesting comparison to how the real presidential election comes out. For the two local schools, Republican Donald Trump won both elections by a landslide. In Braham, Trump received 105 votes (59.66 percent), compared to Hillary Clinton’s 20 votes (11.36 percent). In Cambridge-Isanti, the margin of victory was only slightly smaller. Trump received 411 votes (46.28 percent) compared to Clinton’s 131 votes (14.75 percent). This is in sharp contrast to when all 213 of the schools that reported their results are added together. After tabulating the votes compiled by just over 77,000 students statewide, the results are a virtual deadlock. Trump received 26,930 or 34.97 percent of the votes, compared to Clinton’s 25,333, or 32.89 percent of the votes. How will these results compare to Nov. 8’s real election? That will be determined in less than one week. But if the real election is in any way similar to the mock election, America is going to be in for another very interesting, and perhaps very contentious election. Editor’s note: Tammi Johnson, Braham Dean of Students, contributed to the writing of this article.
independent study completed by Springted (sic) for the city of North Branch.” The complaint goes on to describe several days where Borchardt and her husband went into the NBMW&L offices and observed a “Vote No” campaign flier sitting at the front desk and that employees were encouraging people to take the flier. According to the complaint, this constitutes undue influence within a city-owned building. Additionally, the Borchardts claim that the flier lacks proper disclaimers as to the origins of the flier. The bottom of the flier lists “Paid for by the North Branch Crusade for Ethics in Government” and “Follow ‘North Branch Know the Facts/ Vote No’ on Facebook.” The claim goes on to say that “the city has not had either group filed as a political committee and neither group is registered with the State of Minnesota Secretary of State Office as a legal entity. Since NBMW&L is participating in the distribution/dissemination of this campaign literature it would appear that they and/or their employees are part of and participating (in) these political committees in (a) city-owned building.” For the Facebook page in question, the suit claims that a photo of the NBMW&L employees was taken and used on the page, therefore resulting in
the employees participating in biased campaigning while at work. The final claim was that the NBMW&L posted biased information on their official website. On Thursday, Oct. 27, Administrative Law Judge Jim Mortenson ruled there was no prima facie (the facts alleged, if later proven true, are sufficient to show a statutory violation). Therefore, the judge dismissed the Borchardt’s claims in their entirety. CLAIM FILED AGAINST BORCHARDTS In turn, on Oct. 26, the Borchardts were named in a claim filed by Cynthia Erickson for allegedly breaking Fair Campaign Practices laws themselves. Erickson’s complaint is broken down into three parts. The first being that the Borchardts sent out false campaign material in the form of fliers that “contain several false statements of fact. Specifically, that a yes vote would result in a reorganization rather than abolishment of the commission is false.” The flier also makes false claims of long-term cost savings, according to Erickson. This portion of Erickson’s claim was dismissed due to the statute that applies to it had previously been ruled to be unconstitutional by the U.S. Court of Appeals. The second allegation was for undue influence of voters by the Borchardts. It claims that Joyce, who is still a current
North Branch council member, went against the advice of the City Attorney to not encourage voters to vote in a particular manner on the question. This claim was also dismissed by the judge. In her ruling, Administrative Law Judge Jeanne Cochran said, “while mailing a campaign flier to residents of North Branch as a sitting council member may be concerning for other reasons, it is not conduct that would support finding coercion sufficient to support the claim.” Judge Cochran, however, did find prima facie to go forward with the final part of the claim, pertaining to campaign finance reporting. In that section, Erickson claims that the Borchardts, along with other people who are in favor of a “yes” vote on the referendum, spent in excess of $750 in printing and distributing their fliers. Under statute 211.02, any “committee” (a committee is defined as more than two people working together) that spends more than $750 on a campaign must file a campaign finance report, which the Borchardts have failed to do as of yet. Because of this finding, the claim was moved forward to the next step, which is a probable cause hearing. That hearing was held on Wednesday, Nov. 2, in front of Judge Cochran. He announced Wednesday he will take all the evidence under advisement and render a verdict by the end of this week.
Catch unofficial election-night updates to local races at: • www.isanti-chisagocountystar.com • Facebook at Isanti-Chisago County Star • Twitter @CountyStar_news Official results will be published in our Nov. 10 issue.
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