Several challenges filed with the Minnesota DFL are seeking to nullify State Sen. Omar Fateh’s party endorsement for Minneapolis mayor, claiming irregularities with the voting process.
Per the rules of the Minneapolis DFL Convention, a 60% majority of delegates is required to secure an endorsement. Before Saturday, no mayoral candidate had gained the DFL endorsement in Minneapolis since R.T. Rybak in 2009.
Incumbent Mayor Jacob Frey and former Minnesota DFL Chair Mike Erlandson were among those filing challenges on Monday surrounding the procedures used to calculate delegates’ votes.
In their challenges, the Frey campaign and Erlandson each raised concerns about a new electronic voting system, claiming it was unreliable and undercounted votes on the mayoral ballot. Despite more than 750 delegates and upgraded alternates checked in for the first ballot, they say only 578 votes were counted.
“There is no plausible reason why over 20% of the total delegates/upgraded alternates would skip voting on the most hotly contested, highest-interest business of the convention,” the Frey campaign wrote.
Erlandson also claimed Minneapolis DFL leadership never confirmed a quorum before the final ballot that secured Fateh’s endorsement.
The Frey campaign made no mention of quorum in its complaint but did confirm to 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS it had encouraged supporters to leave Target Center prior to the final show-of-hands vote because of disillusionment with how the convention was conducted.
In a statement, Minneapolis DFL Chair John Maraist pushed back on complaints about issues with the electronic balloting system and overall transparency.
A “medical emergency with a technical consultant” was to blame for a lengthy delay in counting the first ballot, Maraist said. From there, party leaders briefed delegates on the situation, and a decision was made to switch to a show-of-hands vote for mayor and Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board district endorsements and to collect paper ballots for at-large Park Board candidates.
“478 paper ballots were cast in the last ballot, which is comfortably above quorum,” Maraist said.
Erlandson and Frey are each asking the DFL to throw out all endorsements for mayor and for Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board candidates.
“This was the most unfair and procedurally flawed process I have witnessed in my 43 years of attending DFL conventions,” Erlandson wrote. “It is shameful the chair allowed this to happen and pushed forward with these invalid endorsements. We can and must do better as a party.”
A state DFL spokesperson declined to comment on the convention because the party will have to adjudicate the challenges it has received.
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