Minnesota Supreme Court Dismisses DFL Lawsuit To Take Trump Off Ballot
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — The Minnesota Supreme Court on Monday rejected an effort by Democrats to strip Donald Trump's name from the November ballot.
Top party leaders claimed Republicans did not follow proper legal requirements when they submitted Trump's name on the ballot. But the court acted quickly, dismissing the lawsuit.
Minnesota's Democratic Party claimed Republicans failed to properly submit the names of Donald Trump and Mike Pence to be on the state ballot. They're also claiming that Republicans messed up at their summer convention, when they picked their Presidential electors and alternates.
Democrats wanted the Supreme Court to hear the case within two weeks, but the court said they waited too long to file their claim.
Early absentee and in-person voting begins in Minnesota in just 11 days: Sept. 23. The Secretary of State's Office says it had already printed one million ballots in advance.
The order, signed by Chief Justice Lori Gildea, said, "Under these circumstances, we cannot agree that a 2 week delay was reasonable or that the prejudice that would result from that delay going forward is minimal."
In a written statement late Monday afternoon, the Minnesota Republican Party called the lawsuit a "blatant Democrat attempt to rig the Minnesota election for Hillary Clinton and disenfranchise Minnesota voters."
To be clear, the Supreme Court ruled Democrats filed their legal challenge too late, and not on the merits of the case. Minnesota courts place extra-high importance on legal challenges related to elections. Generally, they try to resolve election cases very quickly, especially when voting is about to begin.
So there was no adjudication on the merits, just the timing. It was filed too late.