Election judge gets jail time for allowing unregistered voters to vote

PARK RAPIDS — A Hubbard County judge issued a felony sentence for a Badoura Township election judge.

Timothy Scouton, 65, pleaded guilty in March to one count of accepting ballots from unregistered voters.

Scouton was serving as an election judge during the general election on Nov. 5, 2024.

Then-Hubbard County Auditor-Treasurer Kay Rave reported a few days later that 11 people voted in Badoura Township but did not complete voter registration forms, instead signing their names on the back of a book.

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Nevis election judge pleads guilty to allowing unregistered voters to vote

Timothy Scouton was charged after 11 people voted without registering to do so in Badoura Township, where he served as an election judge in 2024.

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When asked, Scouton told Rave that they could not find the registration forms to use, according to the criminal complaint. After Rave located the forms, Scouton told Rave they did not use them.

Scouton was initially charged with accepting votes of unregistered voters and a neglect of duty after swearing an oath as an election judge, both felonies.

Scouton’s attorney sought a gross misdemeanor-level conviction for accepting the ballots from unregistered voters as part of the plea agreement.

"A penal price must be paid for Mr. Scouton’s actions, but a felony-level conviction is not the appropriate price," wrote attorney Anthony M. Bussa from CJB Law.

"Any felony-level conviction likely will tear down everything he has worked so hard to achieve in his life, and anything that he seeks to achieve in the future for trying to best serve his country as a volunteer head election judge."

Hubbard County Judge Kathryn Lorsbach sentenced Scouton to a stayed one-year prison sentence June 15 with a felony conviction.

He is ordered to serve local time in the Hubbard County Jail for 30 days, with credit for four days already served, plus spend five years on supervised probation. He must also pay a $200 fine. Among conditions of the sentencing, Scouton is prohibited from serving as an election judge again.

Scouton’s son, Andrew Scouton, 33, was also working in an election capacity in Badoura Township that day and was charged with violating election law by working in the same precinct as a family member.

He received a stayed sentence after pleading guilty in September 2025 and also agreed not to serve as an election official.