A Sherburne County probe into allegedly duplicate absentee ballots has zeroed in on a man married to St. Cloud City Council member Hudda Ibrahim, according to records and court filings. The review started after county staff spotted two absentee ballot envelopes under the same name and contact information on October 4, 2024, both marked accepted. Surveillance video later appeared to show a man helping a woman submit two ballots, and investigators say similar concerns about voter assistance and ballot handling have since popped up in neighboring central Minnesota counties.
How investigators say it unfolded
According to KNSI, staff in the Sherburne County Auditor/Treasurer’s office in Elk River flagged the two absentee envelopes after noticing they carried identical identifying information and were both accepted on Oct. 4, 2024. Sergeant Austin Turner later reviewed the government center’s surveillance footage and wrote that it showed a man repeatedly assisting a woman, identified in the report as H.F.G., as she filled out and turned in two absentee applications and ballots. The level of help, Turner noted, raised questions about whether the conduct crossed into unlawful voting. Election workers also told him they had found duplicate ballot stickers and worried that some voters brought in by the same man were not being fully advised of the required voting oath.
Court records name the man
A complaint filed in Sherburne County District Court identifies the man as Tajir Rage and charges him with giving a peace officer a false name and driving without a valid license, according to court records. The document describes an Oct. 9, 2024 encounter at the Sherburne County Government Center, where an officer confronted a man, saw a credit card with the name Tajir Rage fall to the floor, and later received identification under that same name. The sworn account of that interaction, along with the events that triggered the sheriff’s inquiry, is laid out in the criminal complaint.
County review and legal questions
Turner’s report recommended a charging review for at least one voter and pointed to potential violations of Minnesota election law. Sherburne County officials ultimately decided not to pursue felony election charges, KNSI reported. The investigative write-up names the man as Tajir Rage and notes that he is married to Hudda Ibrahim, who ran for a St. Cloud council seat in 2024 and was later appointed to represent Ward Three.
The statutes Turner cited, contained in Minnesota Statutes Chapter 204C.14 on unlawful voting, spell out that casting more than one ballot and supplying ballots to others are illegal, and they describe the penalties that can follow such conduct, as set out on the state code site (Minnesota Statutes). Stearns County law enforcement officials say they have reviewed related allegations and forwarded their findings to prosecutors, but so far no felony election charges tied to the matter have been filed.
Why it matters in St. Cloud
The timing is touchy for St. Cloud politics, with municipal candidate filing now underway and Ibrahim serving on the council. She was appointed to the Ward Three seat in December 2024 and remains a sitting member, as reported by MPR. The City of St. Cloud’s candidate packet shows the 2026 filing window opened May 19 and closes June 2, according to the City of St. Cloud.
Election officials in Sherburne, Stearns, and Benton counties say the inquiry remains active. Any next steps, they add, will depend on prosecutorial review of the evidence and interviews already gathered.
