Minnesota Supreme Court Denies Mike Lindell’s Recount Request
The Minnesota Supreme Court has rejected Mike Lindell’s request for a vote recount in the gubernatorial primary, prompted by his claims of irregularities.
In a ruling issued on Saturday, Chief Justice Natalie Hudson stated that Lindell’s allegations lacked merit and that he misinterpreted the intent behind a recount.
“But Lindell’s focus on alleged anomalies confused the purpose of a manual recount with an election contest,” Hudson noted.
Lindell, the founder of MyPillow, participated in the Republican primary for Minnesota governor on August 11, where he endorsed by Donald Trump but ultimately lost to Lisa Demuth by over 45,000 votes, according to reports.
Despite this setback, Lindell sought a recount, voicing ongoing skepticism about election integrity, which he has expressed since the 2020 presidential election.
He had requested a discretionary recount for the gubernatorial primaries, indicating it would cost about $825,000. However, he claimed that on the deadline day for submitting recount requests, he was made aware that the recount would be limited in scope.
“The proposed scope of that recount also fails to address the legitimate concerns I have as a candidate for governor,” Lindell stated in a declaration earlier in the week.
“First, the same ballot form was used for both Democratic and Republican primary races and thus, a full recount of all of the ballots is warranted to ensure that there are no anomalies in the ballots…,” he added.
His recount strategy involved segregating ballots into three categories: those for Lindell, those for Demuth, and a third group for all other candidates.
However, he declined to fund this limited recount, even though he claimed to have demonstrated his financial ability to cover the costs, and instead requested a full recount to address his election concerns.
Ultimately, the court sided with the state, asserting that Lindell’s claims were unfounded and that the recount plan adhered to state regulations.
“On the merits of Lindell’s…petition, however, we conclude that respondents are not committing any wrongful act, omission, or error,” said Hudson in reference to the state’s approved recount strategy.
The Minnesota secretary of state’s office confirmed it had communicated the recount plan to Lindell after it received approval on August 18, stating that it aligned with legal guidelines.
Nonetheless, Lindell contended that although he learned about the plan around that time, he only discovered its limited capacity shortly before the deadline.
On Saturday, he announced plans to appeal the ruling to the United States Supreme Court. Additionally, Lindell’s team aims to conduct a separate investigation by gathering election data from all 87 counties in Minnesota through the Freedom of Information Act.
