I could be mistaken about Hennepin County (Minneapolis) but my experience in Minnesota is that elections are clean. They take the integrity of the process very seriously IMHO.
I am a city clerk here in MN and I can attest to the fact that the voting systems in place here are some of the best in the country. A paper ballot record is kept of every vote cast and after every election 5% of precincts are randomly chosen to be fully audited to confirm that the tallies generated are accurate.
Furthermore, we do have a relatively good voter ID process and election judges have to declare their party identity - and equal numbers of each party must be present during the entire election process.
As for my view on whether or not the state is in play for McCain... it is a long shot given the population density in Minneapolis, St. Paul and the inner-ring suburbs; but it isn’t impossible. There is hardly any Obambi support in the outstate areas where I’m at.