On Friday, the Minnesota Republican Party (MNGOP) responded harshly to the lawsuit brought by Minnesota Democratic Party Chair Ken Martin over the addition of Republican nominee Donald Trump to the Minnesota Ballot.
As Alpha News reported, the DFL claims “the Minnesota GOP broke Minn. Stat. §208.03 when ten alternate presidential electors were not nominated during the GOP State Convention in May.”
Minnesota Republican Party Chair Keith Downey issued his own statement calling the suit “frivolous.” Downey states:
“Donald Trump got on our ballot fair and square, and it is outrageous that the Democrat Party would actually try to rig the election this way,” said Downey, “It sure smells bad when the Democrat Party petitions the Democrat Secretary of State to remove the Republican candidate from the presidential ballot. With Mr. Trump gaining strength every day and Hillary Clinton tanking in the polls, it appears Minnesota Democrats are very worried. In the end the Clinton machine’s blatant and frivolous attempt to disenfranchise so many Minnesota voters will backfire – it’s everything that people see wrong with politics.”
When news first broke about the Trump-Pence ticket being absent from the Minnesota Presidential Ballot, Downey issued a letter to all State Party officers explaining that both the State Party and RNC had worked with the Office of the Secretary of State to amend the issue despite meeting the requirements before the deadline. Downey was also adamant in stating that all decisions made by the party to rectify the situation, including the nomination of alternate presidential electors at the August State Central meeting were well within the State Party constitution.
According to Rachel Stassen-Berger of the Pioneer Press, the MN Supreme Court requested that the Minnesota GOP respond to the petition by 4:30p yesterday. She tweets later on that the GOP had filed the petition 50 minutes late.
The GOP petition, which is available online, lays out in detail four reasons as to why the lawsuit should be thrown out.
The Minnesota Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling on the matter sometime on Monday.
Preya Samsundar
Preya Samsundar was born and raised in Minneapolis, MN. She graduated from the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities this Spring with a B.A. in Political Science and Sociology, with a minor in Strategic Communications. Preya has previously worked on several State Campaign Races.
