GOP candidate Kim Crockett questions if those with disabilities, non-English speakers should be able to vote

Kim Crockett, the Republican candidate to become Minnesota's chief elections officer, is under scrutiny over comments she made two years ago in which she questioned if people with disabilities and those who can’t read or write English should be allowed to vote.

In an interview with Justice and Drew radio show in September of 2020, Crockett discussed a ruling by the Minnesota Supreme Court relating to a state law that allows Minnesotans to help a maximum of three people who have disabilities or difficulties reading English to fill out and cast a ballot.

Democrats challenged this law due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, arguing it contravened the Voting Rights Act. A court in September 2020 ruled that the law could not be enforced, though it did approve a law limiting the number of absentee ballots a person could deliver on the behalf of others to three.

In the interview, which was brought to light in a Friday report by the Huffington Post, Crockett questioned the ruling on voting assistance.

“So the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that indeed you can help an unlimited number of people vote if they are disabled or can’t read or speak English, which raises the question, should they be voting?” Crockett said, before adding: "But we can talk about that another time."

Crockett then went on to praise the other part of the court's ruling regarding the number of ballots someone can return on others' behalf, saying it would help prevent "ballot harvesting" – the gathering of multiple ballots by third parties to be submitted on behalf of voters.

Crockett is the GOP nominee for Secretary of State, and is going up against Democratic incumbent Steve Simon this November.

Crockett argued her comments – which were shared on YouTube by the Minnesota DFL – were taken out of context and that she wasn't implying that vulnerable voters are not competent enough to vote.

Here's the audio of her making the comment:

Her comments drew criticism from her opponent Steve Simon.

"As the son of an immigrant, and the father of a child with a disability, I celebrate our laws allowing help at the polling place for voters who face physical or language barriers," he added. "It’s deeply wrong to imply that those voters are somehow suspect."

Crockett earned the GOP party’s endorsement in May, and has been a proponent of former President Donald Trump's unproven allegations of election fraud conspiracy, claiming without evidence that the 2020 vote was "rigged."

She currently works as a legal advisor for Minnesota Voters Alliance, which has filed multiple lawsuits against Secretary of State Steve Simon over his office’s handling of elections. 

In May, she issued an apology after one of her campaign videos broadcast at the Minnesota GOP state convention contained an antisemitic sequence, and she has also faced claims of bigotry in the past.