Minneapolis student voters turned away from polls

The residents of a 300-person student housing cooperative were turned away from their Minneapolis polling location Tuesday because they provided "non-conforming" proof of residency, according to a national nonpartisan "voter protection coalition."

The coalition, Election Protection, reported that the students weren’t allowed to vote because the rent statement presented as proof of residency was addressed to election officials rather than the students. Election officials also said the housing cooperative couldn’t make changes to the rent statement.

Election Protection officials asked Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie’s office to allow changes to the rent statement to be made; Ritchie’s office ruled that the co-op could issue corrected rent statements addressed to the students, and those statements were issued so that the students could vote.

The Election Protection coalition, which is affiliated with Common Cause Minnesota, a nonpartisan watchdog organization, is monitoring problems at polling locations across the country and said 500 requests for assistance had been received from Minnesota voters.

"The majority of problems seen today have been honest mistakes by undertrained poll workers and overwhelmed election officials, but they nevertheless threaten Minnesota voters’ rights to fair elections and the integrity of the entire system," the coalition said in a statement.