Primary loser claims fraud after Stutsman County election results

A losing primary candidate is now claiming fraud, but Stutsman County’s election records show a clear paper trail from ballot casting to canvass. On June 9, county voters cast 3,417 ballots, including 2,323 Republican ballots, 915 Democratic-NPL ballots, 179 nonpartisan ballots and 58 crossover ballots, while several high-profile GOP contests were decided by wide margins.

In Stutsman County’s unofficial returns, Julie Fedorchak led the Republican race for U.S. House with 1,681 votes, or 72.36 percent, compared with Alex Balazs’s 583. Michael Howe won the Republican Secretary of State primary with 1,960 votes, or 84.37 percent. In the Public Service Commissioner race, Sheri Haugen-Hoffart finished ahead of Deven Styczynski, 1,252 to 697. The totals underscore how decisively local voters weighed in across the ballot, even as one defeated candidate has tried to cast doubt on the outcome.

State election law gives those results a defined path before they become final. North Dakota’s Secretary of State says county canvassing boards and the State Canvassing Board must verify and certify election results before they are official. The state also has automatic recount rules in primary candidate contests when the margin is 1 percent or less, and state guidance says recount costs in legislative races are paid by the state. That framework is designed to separate a losing campaign’s suspicion from a verified election record.

Stutsman County’s election procedures are also public and localized. The county posts sample ballots in The Jamestown Sun and on the Secretary of State’s website, and election-day voters can cast ballots at the Jamestown Civic Center. Early voting is available at the Stutsman County Courthouse, and Medina serves as an additional precinct voting location for county residents. Those steps matter now because the next stage is not speculation, but canvassing, certification and, if the margin requires it, a recount under state rules.

The fraud allegation is drawing attention in a county that has already seen election handling questioned before. In a prior primary cycle, a county election judge was investigated after allegations that she failed to initial multiple ballots on June 11, 2024, and Secretary of State Michael Howe said the reports were concerning. That history helps explain why any new accusation lands with added force in Stutsman County, where election workers will be judged not only on the votes they count, but on the safeguards they can document before the next election.