Several meetings of the board this fall and winter featured requests for a forensic audit of the election results in Crow Wing County, beginning with the Oct. 26 meeting, one week shy of a year after Election Day 2020.
Jeremy Pekula speaks during a Dec. 14 county board meeting to repeat a request for a forensic audit of the 2020 election results in Crow Wing County. Pekula was among a standing-room-only crowd, several of whom forwarded unproven or false accusations of voter fraud in the 2020 election. Steve Kohls / Brainerd Dispatch
A legal opinion on whether the Crow Wing County Board can initiate and perform a forensic audit of the 2020 election results is expected from County Attorney Don Ryan on Tuesday, Dec. 28.
Ryan told commissioners and a boardroom filled to standing room only with people seeking the audit Dec. 14 he was in the process of researching the question and would present his findings during the board’s last regular meeting of the year.
The county attorney offered this information following a series of statements by audience members during the open forum portion of that meeting, including a number of unproven or false accusations of voter fraud associated with the 2020 election. Many of the accusations mirror those forwarded by former President Donald Trump and his allies before, during and after the election.
Several meetings of the board this fall and winter featured requests for a forensic audit of the election results in Crow...
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