TOWER— UPDATED: On Thursday, April 2, St. Louis County’s election supervisor Phil Chapman informed the Timberjay that he has determined that Tower resident John Burgess did not commit voter fraud as alleged in a complaint submitted recently by Vermilion Lake Township resident Carol Pratt. Burgess, who serves as airport manager in Tower, has now provided St. Louis County officials with the records necessary to prove he resides at his hangar as is indicated on his state-issued driver's license. A recent false report in the Tower News, authored by Steve Altenburg, suggested that Burgess had committed multiple felonies by voting in Tower.
Chapman was responding to a complaint filed with the St. Louis County Attorney’s Office by Pratt, who had accused Burgess of voter fraud for using his hangar, which is located within the city limits, as his legal residence. The county attorney’s office referred the matter to Chapman, since under Minn. Stat. 201.016, it’s up to the county auditor to determine whether any individual may have voted in the wrong precinct.
The county decision leaves unresolved the issue of whether Burgess can legally reside in an airplane hangar. Pratt alleged in her letter that FAA policy forbids it. Chapman said he’ll leave it up to Burgess and the FAA to work out that issue.
“We don’t know if he can or not,” said Chapman. “That’s not our responsibility.”
If Burgess had voted in the wrong precinct, there would be no penalty for an initial violation. Instead, the county auditor would send a notice of infraction to the individual involved. If the person commits a second violation, after receiving a warning letter, they would be guilty of a petty misdemeanor under Minnesota law.
Pratt, who is the mother of former Tower Clerk-Treasurer Linda Keith, alleged in her complaint, which was notarized by Keith, that Burgess resides at a residence in Greenwood Township. County records show the property in question is owned by someone other than Burgess and there is no record of Burgess voting in Greenwood. Burgess co-owns his parents’ former residence in Tower with siblings, but his state-issued driver’s license lists his airport hangar, where he maintains quarters, as his legal residence. According to Chapman, Burgess doesn’t claim any homestead exemption on any property in St. Louis County, although it would not be possible for him to homestead a hangar, since it’s considered commercial property.
Citizens in the U.S. are not required to homestead property in order to have a right to vote.
The complaint against Burgess appears to be part of campaign to discredit individuals who the Pratts feel were responsible in some way for their daughter’s downfall. Burgess had been critical of Linda Keith while she was still clerk-treasurer and his comments at a council meeting last year provoked an altercation between Burgess and Keith’s longtime political ally Steve Altenburg. Pratt’s complaint was the subject of a recent report in the Tower News, written by Altenburg, which falsely suggested that Burgess committed felonies by voting in Tower. Altenburg was recently fired from his employment with the city of Tower following the completion of a 41-page investigative report detailing a long list of allegations against Altenburg during his tenure as ambulance director and fire chief. Altenburg’s threatening altercation with Burgess was among the issues cited in the report.