Minnesota secretary of state planning for possibility of federal interference in midterm election

Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon told voters Saturday that his office is planning for possible interference by the federal government in the election, a hazard he said has never before been on the state's list.

Simon said at a "Freedom to Vote" rally that he was "sad to tell you" but felt he must. His office is planning for "another set of hazards," he said, including that the federal government "might interfere directly, or interfere indirectly with this election."

He stressed he did not want to sound alarmist.

"We're not predicting that's going to happen. I think that's important," Simon said. "We plan for a lot of things we're not predicting will happen."

Simon said potential interference could include the presence of federal agents or a late executive order before voting day.

"You know what victory looks like for me? A lot of planning over scenarios that never happen," he said.

Simon also defended Minnesota's elections. He said a viral video during August's primary election showed him that protections work. He said the 10 people arrested for voter fraud this month show the system catches bad actors.

"These were ten people, out of 8.5 million voters during the same period. Now, one is too many, of course," Simon said. "We don't want anyone breaking our election laws." By that math, he said, Minnesota's accuracy and security level is "literally 99.9999%."