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Before the real voting, there’s the trial run • North Dakota Monitor

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Before the real voting, there’s the trial run • North Dakota Monitor


Bob Henderson, the director of information technology in Cass County, called it one of the most important but most tedious parts of election preparation — testing the machines that tabulate the votes. 

Before voting begins, the vote tabulators are fed a “test deck” — a group of ballots that is filled out before the election to make sure machines get the correct vote total. 

Similar tests are done in every county across the state before the machines are used. 

Bob Henderson, the director of information technology for Cass County show a controller that people with disabilities can use to navigate the electronic voting machines. The county also has headphones for the voting machine so the hearing impaired can listen to voting options on the ballot. (Jeff Beach/North Dakota Monitor)

The North Dakota Monitor observed the public demonstrations Cass and Burleigh counties did of voting equipment leading up to the election. 

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“It went as it should go,” Mark Splonskowski, auditor-treasurer for Burleigh County, said of the test. “It counted it correctly and then we zeroed it out and made sure it was at zero when we were done.”

Henderson and other Cass County election officials demonstrated how the voting machines work and answered questions about the election process on Oct. 25 at a Fargo warehouse where the county stores its election equipment. 

Nathan Hansen, who works in the county’s finance office, fed ballots into the machine by hand, just as a voter would, unless a voter asks for help from an election official. Some of the ballots are intentionally mismarked, such as voting for two candidates in the presidential race, to make sure the machine flags those kinds of mistakes for voters so they can get a new ballot to fix the mistake if they want to. 

The machine will also flag races that are skipped or where the voter does not vote for the maximum number of candidates, such as voting for only one candidate for state House of Representatives when voters can select two.

Voting already has been taking place for weeks in North Dakota by absentee or mail-in voting and early in-person voting. 

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Cass County, North Dakota’s most populous county, runs more than 500 ballots through each of the more than 60 voting tabulators before they are given the stamp of approval. 

The number of test ballots is determined by the number of contests. A county or precinct with fewer races will have fewer scenarios to test for. 

During the Burleigh County test, Splonskowski demonstrated how the machine won’t allow multiple ballots to be inserted at the same time. He added the height and width specifications of the ballots must match the requirements of the machine.

Rep. Karen Karls, R-Bismarck, chair of NDGOP District 35, also viewed the Burleigh County election equipment test. 

“It seems pretty straightforward,” Karls said of this year’s test.

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Cass County employee Nathan Hansen feeds a test ballot into a vote tabulation machine in Fargo, North Dakota, on Oct. 25, 2024. Looking on during the public demonstration is Cody Schuler of the North Dakota American Civil Liberties Union. (Jeff Beach/North Dakota Monitor)

She said she comes to the test every election cycle because some of her voters have concerns about election security.

“There are election deniers out there, and so I ask the questions and hopefully get the answers that take care of the problem,” Karls said. 

Splonkowski said election officials and state lawmakers have tried to get ahead of election integrity questions.

“What I want is an informed electorate,” Splonskowski said. “I want informed legislators, so they know how the process works, so that they can understand it better. If there are to be improvements made, you can’t make improvements unless you already know how it works.”

All ballots cast in North Dakota are paper ballots, whether filled in manually or with a touchscreen. Henderson calls the touchscreen “a digital pencil” that transfers the voter’s choices to a paper ballot. The voter can review that ballot before submitting.

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Henderson emphasized that neither the touch screen nor the vote tabulators are connected to the internet. Flash drives or “data sticks” are used to physically take results from the machine to the auditor’s office, but the paper ballots are put into sealed containers for potential verification. 

Cody Schuler, advocacy manager of the American Civil Liberties Union in North Dakota, observed the Cass County demonstration. 

The ACLU is among the groups that monitor voting sites and take reports of irregularities. The ACLU partners with the League of Women Voters on voter access issues. 

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“If folks feel their rights are being violated, or if there are long lines and want to report things that might be hindering people’s accessibility to the polls, those are the kind of things that people need to self-advocate for, but the ACLU and our partner organizations across the nation do that and we’re active here in North Dakota,” Schuler said.

Voters also can report issues to either of those groups, the county or to the secretary of state. 

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Men’s basketball: St. Thomas lives up to hype, rolls past North Dakota State

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Men’s basketball: St. Thomas lives up to hype, rolls past North Dakota State


A matchup against a perennial Summit League power, a national cable television audience, and a sold-out crowd that included Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch and team president Tim Connelly.

There were a lot of reasons for St. Thomas freshman guard Nolan Minessale and his teammates to be excited Sunday afternoon, but the Tommies managed to keep their emotions in check and focus on the task at hand.

That composure paid off as St. Thomas jumped in front of North Dakota State early and never looked back, cruising to a 79-62 victory at Schoenecker Arena.

“There was a lot of hype around this game, but we went in with the mindset that every game is a big game for us,” said Minesalle, a graduate of Milwaukee’s Marquette University High School, who led St. Thomas with 23 points Sunday.

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“We came out with a lot of energy, and that was the spark right away.”

The Tommies did indeed come out of the gates quickly, racing to a 24-8 lead with 11:50 to play in the first half. St. Thomas began the game 5 for 10 from behind the 3-point line, led by two from junior guard Kendall Blue.

NDSU, meanwhile, started just 2 for 8 (25 percent) from the field and turned the ball over four times, setting the stage for an afternoon when the Bison turned the ball over 15 times in all.

“Being in gaps early, rebounding and limiting them to one shot on each possession – I thought we did a good job of all that (Sunday),” said Blue, an East Ridge High School graduate who finished with 20 points.

The Tommies increased their lead to 45-26 at halftime, and to as much as 22 early in the second half. The Bison (16-8 overall, 5-4 Summit) did cut the gap to as little as 11 on a 3-pointer by junior guard Tajavis Miller with 3:02 remaining.

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But that was as close as NDSU got.

“They played with great spirit and a lot of fire,” Bison coach David Richman said. “It was a tremendous atmosphere, and I think they got behind that.

“For lack of a better term, they overwhelmed us.”

With the victory, St. Thomas (18-6, 8-1 Summit) pulls back into a first-place tie with Omaha (14-10, 8-1 Summit) atop the conference standings. The Mavericks dealt the Tommies their only conference loss of the season, winning 89-78 on Jan. 23 in Omaha.

The two teams are scheduled to clash again on Feb. 15 in St. Paul.

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“I don’t think we look at the standings much because then you’re worrying about things you can’t control,” said Tommies head coach Johnny Tauer, whose team is still in just its fourth season at the Division I level.

“But certainly, if you’d asked us three years ago where do you think you’re going to be, I don’t know that anybody would have predicted this. In the preseason, there were about 40 votes cast, and not one of them picked St. Thomas to win the conference. I don’t blame people, and we don’t use that as motivation. I just think this team is really good about taking it one game at a time.”

That approach proved successful Sunday in an atmosphere Tauer called electric.

“When you show up 90 minutes before the game, and there are students lined up outside the arena, I don’t remember that happening before,” said Tauer, whose team picked up its 15th straight home victory. “I think in some ways, this was sort of the culmination of what we’ve been trying to build.

“It’s certainly not an end point, but it’s one of those markers.”

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Williston man hits off-road motorcycle in fatal crash

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Williston man hits off-road motorcycle in fatal crash


WILLISTON, N.D. — A 20-year-old Montana man was killed after a North Dakota man — who is accused of driving drunk — hit the off-road motorcycle he was driving.

According to the North Dakota Highway Patrol, the crash happened just after 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 1 at the intersection of Second Avenue West and Second Street West in Williston, North Dakota.

The Poplar, Montana, man was driving a 2020 Yamaha off-road motorcycle west on Second Street when 46-year-old Maverick Stanton of Williston attempted to make a turn onto Second Avenue West. Stranton, who was driving a 2004 Dodge Ram 1500, failed to yield and struck the motorcycle, the patrol said.

The Montana man was taken to Trinity Hospital in Minot, North Dakota, where he died.

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Stranton was not injured. He was arrested for driving under the influence.

The name of the Montana man has not yet been released. The highway patrol said the roads were clear and it was sunny at the time of the crash.

Our newsroom occasionally reports stories under a byline of “staff.” Often, the “staff” byline is used when rewriting basic news briefs that originate from official sources, such as a city press release about a road closure, and which require little or no reporting. At times, this byline is used when a news story includes numerous authors or when the story is formed by aggregating previously reported news from various sources. If outside sources are used, it is noted within the story.





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Who is Grey Zabel? What to know about North Dakota State football lineman after Senior Bowl

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Who is Grey Zabel? What to know about North Dakota State football lineman after Senior Bowl


Grey Zabel might be the perfect player to prove the case for the Senior Bowl.

The former North Dakota State football offensive lineman has made a name for himself this week in practices and at the Senior Bowl game itself on Saturday. For his strong week at practices in Mobile, Alabama, Zabel was named the Senior Bowl Overall Practice Player of the Week in a poll by 32 NFL executives.

Zabel has worked into the conversation of being a late first-round pick following an intense week in front of NFL scouts and personnel.

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Here’s what you need to know about Zabel, including his college recruitment:

Who is Grey Zabel?

Zabel measured at 6-foot-5, 316 pounds at the Senior Bowl. He appeared in 62 games during his career with the Bison, including starting at left tackle in his final season. He has proven he can play everywhere, as he also made starts at left guard, right tackle and right guard during his career.

During the Senior Bowl, Zabel played guard and got in a drive at center, further proving his positional versatility for the next level. Zabel graduated from NDSU with a major in agribusiness and a minor in economics and precision agriculture.

Zabel earned First-Team FCS All-American this season at tackle for the Bison, but being able to show his ability to play around the offensive line and the ability he creates with his hands and feet has earned him high praise from NFL draft analysts.

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“From start-to-finish, Grey Zabel dominated the week,” ESPN analyst Field Yates wrote on social media. “He was outstanding in 1-on-1s at both guard spots and center. His hands and feet were always in sync and he finished with an edge. Leaving this week, Zabel felt like a guy who will hear his name called late in Round 1.”

Grey Zabel recruitment

  • Star rating: 0 stars
  • National ranking: No ranking
  • Positional ranking: No ranking
  • State ranking: No ranking

According to 247Sports’ Composite rankings, Zabel was unranked in the 2020 recruiting class out of T.F. Riggs High School in Pierre, South Dakota. Zabel also held offers from South Dakota and South Dakota State but committed to the Bison on July 16, 2019. He finished his high school career with 84 tackles, 25 t tackles for loss and 14 sacks.



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