Crockett’s husband says ‘we need’ sheriffs, deputies ready to respond to election fraud

The husband of Kim Crockett recently called on her supporters to get law enforcement lined up to crack down on fraud on Election Day.

Crockett is the Republican nominee for secretary of state, Minnesota’s top election administrator. 

Speaking at an Oct. 6 Liberty Tea Party Patriots event in Champlin, Crockett’s spouse, Marty Probst, said, “If you’ve got friends or family or whatever in sheriff’s deputies or sheriffs — we need them on Election Day. That’s part of the SWAT team to get out when certain places don’t follow the rules that they’re supposed to.” 

He claimed there are 10 to 15 purposeful contradictions in the election judge manual, and that “they’re not following the law.” 

A spokeswoman said the Office of the Secretary of State is coordinating with the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension “to ensure law enforcement know their role on Election Day.”

“The state has guidelines for who can be in be in polling places and how they can behave,” Cassondra Knudson said. “This would not allow for law enforcement to be situated in a polling place for any purpose other than responding to a call for assistance.”

And, she added, “We do not believe there are any contradictions in the election judge manual.”

In fact, state law bans peace officers from being within 50 feet of polling places except to vote or if they’re summoned by an election judge to “restore the peace.”

Lukas Severson, Minnesota election integrity director for the Republican National Committee, responded to Probst’s comments at the meeting by saying,  “great point,” and adding, “We are still looking for folks who would like to join us in our war room to answer calls from the hotline.”

Both the Democratic and Republican parties often have so-called war rooms and hotlines where people can report election problems. 

Crockett has not responded to a request for comment. 

Probst also said at the event that he’s worked for 10 years as a Minneapolis election judge, and recommends poll watchers follow the workers who transport ballots to election centers. 

This story was updated at 2:50 p.m. to add a response from the secretary of state’s office.