President-elect Donald Trump and many other Republicans have often warned of the heightened risk for potential electoral fraud, errors by election workers, and partisan shenanigans that come with the increased usage of mail-in absentee ballots.

Those warnings may have been validated by reports that 20 mail-in ballots are suspected of having been disposed of and destroyed before being counted in one Minnesota precinct, according to the Daily Caller.

That may not sound like a big deal until one considers that the precinct is within a state House district that was decided by just 15 votes for a seat that would determine which party controls the state's lower legislative chamber for the next two years.

Single precinct in Minnesota lost 20 absentee ballots

The Daily Caller reported that, after a recount, incumbent Democratic State Rep. Brad Tabke appeared to defeat Republican challenger Aaron Paul by just 15 votes, though that result is in dispute following the discovery that 21 mail-in absentee ballots in the district had been received but not counted, 20 of which came from a single precinct and sparked an investigation.

"The preliminary investigation into the 21-ballot discrepancy hasn’t been determinative thus far, and it appears likely to be the result of human error that occurred during the collection of early absentee ballots at the City of Shakopee," Scott County Attorney Ron Hocevar said in a statement. "This unfortunate situation resulted in a level of confusion that should not have occurred."

"In the interest of full transparency, we have included a link to the information provided to the attorneys for both candidates this morning. It’s important to note that the investigation is ongoing and we hope that more information will be forthcoming," the county attorney added.

20 missing ballots likely thrown away and destroyed

According to the preliminary investigation report released by the county attorney's office, it was during the post-election tabulation process that it was discovered that one precinct in Scott County had counted 20 fewer absentee ballots than it had reported received.

After a variety of different plausible explanations were explored but eliminated, it was eventually determined by investigators that the ballots were likely lost at some point between Oct. 17 and 18, when the signature envelopes for absentee ballots were counted and opened and separated from inner secrecy envelopes that contained the actual ballots.

Unfortunately, by the time this was realized and the county approached the city in search of the missing ballots, it was learned that the secrecy envelopes, which likely still contained ballots, had already been disposed of in the garbage and subsequently shredded at a nearby landfill and recycling center.

In other words, ballots that should have been counted were not and instead ended up in the trash, from which they almost certainly will never be recovered, and even if they were someday found, there would be no way to prove a secure chain of custody and that they hadn't been altered or tampered with.

GOP calls for a new election over missing ballots

The Daily Caller noted that this development has spurred furious recriminations from Minnesota Republicans, given the possibility that the lost 20 ballots from a single precinct may have been determinative for the state House race that was decided by just 15 votes.

As things stand now, with the Democratic incumbent declared the winner, the Minnesota House will be evenly split at 67-67 for the next term, while the GOP would have enjoyed a 68-66 majority advantage if the Republican challenger had won the race.

Now, some top Republicans in the state are demanding that a new election be held for that district, given the unsolvable uncertainty about which candidate actually prevailed, had the 20 missing ballots been counted.

"This confirms why we will be seeking an election contest," Minnesota GOP House Leader Lisa Demuth said in an X post this week. "With the missing ballots not expected to be recovered, a new election is the only way to restore confidence and guarantee that every voter has their vote counted."