Minnehaha County commissioner clashes with auditor, her supporters

Commissioner Joe Kippley called on Auditor Leah Anderson to resign after expressing doubt about 2020 election results

Minnehaha County Commissioner Joe Kippley exchanged words with supporters of Auditor Leah Anderson Tuesday after a fiery exchange between the two in which Kippley said Anderson should resign.

Kippley’s call on Anderson to resign during the commission’s regular meeting came during Anderson’s follow-up briefing on a June press release in which she said there was a discrepancy of about 24,500 votes cast in the 2020 general election that were not accounted for in the county’s audit logs. Although unable to review the ballots cast in that election without a judicial order, Anderson said she used other documentation and records to audit the election, concluding that an electronic tabulator was most likely not reporting audit logs properly.

“Now that I have completed that reconciliation, I am more comfortable with the number of ballots cast,” she told the commission.

But under commission questioning, Kippley, who has been a frequent critic of Anderson and her distrust of the accuracy of electronic vote tabulators, asked her if she had regrets for sowing distrust about the 2020 election results.

“I feel completely vindicated calling that half-baked,” he said.