On Friday, the Minnesota Supreme Court threw out a case in which Republicans sought to block the certification of election results in the state. The Republican plaintiffs filed their original complaint on November 24, less than 24 hours before the Minnesota state canvassing board was slated to gather and officially certify the election results in the state, and well after the electoral processes themselves had completed. The plaintiffs hinged part of their complaint on a challenge to the suspension of the witness requirement for absentee ballots in the state, but the witness requirement was suspended well before early voting got underway — and yet, the plaintiffs waited until the final stretch to file their challenge.
🚨BREAKING: Minnesota Supreme Court DISMISSES Republican lawsuit seeking to delay the certification of the election.
Trump and his allies are 1-43 in post-election litigation.https://t.co/azKtOZ5xdF
— Marc E. Elias (@marceelias) December 4, 2020
The Minnesota Supreme Court noted this glaring delay in their dismissal of the Republicans’ case. The court stated, in part, as follows:
‘Given the undisputed public record regarding the suspension of the witness requirement for absentee and mail ballots, petitioners had a duty to act well before November 3, 2020, to assert claims that challenged that procedure; asserting these claims 2 months after voting started, 3 weeks after voting ended, and less than 24 hours before the State Canvassing Board met to certify the election results is unreasonable.’
The Minnesota Supreme Court also singled out plaintiffs’ failure to actually serve targeted local election officials with copies of their complaint. The court notes that “petitioners were required to serve county election officials with a copy of the petition,” but the plaintiffs “did not file proof that shows any county election officials were served with the petition.” This failure solidified the Republican plaintiffs’ loss in the state, according to the Minnesota Supreme Court. The plaintiffs originally requested a recount of “the entirety of the 2020 general election results,” the court explains, but this proposed full recount “would cast an unacceptable degree of uncertainty over the election, potentially leaving Minnesotans without adequate elected representation,” the court added.
Minnesota was not particularly close in the presidential race — Biden won the state by a little over 7 percent. Trump-allied court challenges in closer states have also failed, and Trump allies have not come remotely close to overturning the election outcome in a single state anywhere in the entire country.
