The Minnesota Supreme Court rejected Mike Lindell recount lawsuit Minnesota bid on Saturday, denying his request for a full recount of his loss in the GOP primary for governor of Minnesota. The ruling leaves the recount plan in place and preserves House Speaker Lisa Demuth’s win by 45,000 votes.
Lindell had said he was willing to pay more to force a full hand recount. In a phone call to NBC News on Saturday evening, he said, “I’m willing to pay even more money. I don’t care what it costs,” and said his team is seeking data from all 87 counties through the Freedom of Information Act.
Hudson’s six-page ruling
Chief Justice Natalie E. Hudson wrote in the six-page ruling that the Minnesota secretary of state’s office and the State Canvassing Board were not committing any wrongful act, omission or error as Lindell claimed. She wrote that the recount plan approved by the canvassing board on Aug. 18 follows protocol.
Hudson also wrote that Lindell’s view of the case was too broad for the kind of proceeding he sought. “But Lindell’s focus on alleged anomalies confuses the purpose of a manual recount with an election contest,” she wrote.
She said the process already requires ballots to be sorted first between those cast in the Democratic or Republican primary, then the Republican ballots separated into three piles: one for Lindell, one for Demuth and one for all other candidates. “And all ballots, in all piles, would be counted and subject to challenge,” she wrote.
Mike Lindell and Lisa Demuth
Lindell lost the Aug. 11 GOP primary for governor of Minnesota to Lisa Demuth. He had previously pledged to pay an estimated $825,000 for a full hand recount and audit, then refused to pay the money on Monday after learning the recount would count only the ballots cast for either Lindell or Demuth.
In the court ruling, Lindell said he wanted “to ensure that there are no anomalies in the ballots, whether the votes cast are for the Democratic or Republican primaries,” and sought “the recording of votes for every candidate.” Hudson answered that after the votes are sorted and counted, “Lindell would know whether he is the winner over Demuth.”
U.S. Supreme Court appeal
Lindell sued the Minnesota secretary of state’s office and the State Canvassing Board on Monday, then told News that he plans to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. The ruling keeps Demuth’s primary victory in place and leaves her spot in the general election against Amy Klobuchar unchanged.
Whether Lindell will get any review from the U.S. Supreme Court now sits at the center of the dispute. For now, the court in Minnesota has left the recount plan intact and made clear that the ballots will be counted under the process already approved.
