WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the Honest Elections Project announced the filing of a notice of appeal in the federal lawsuit challenging the unconstitutional attempt by Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon to count late ballots in violation of the law. Simon’s new policy is to count ballots arriving up to one week late, even if they lack a postmark. Minnesota state law requires that absentee ballots be returned by Election Day. Two presidential electors, Rep. Eric Lucero and Jim Carson, filed suit to restore the legal deadline, but on Sunday a federal District Court ruled that they lacked standing.
Jason Snead, Executive Director of Honest Elections Project:
“The fight for fair, honest, and lawful elections in Minnesota will continue, and we are proud to support that effort on behalf of voters. The law is clear and commonsense: ballots must be returned by Election Day to be valid. It is bad enough that Secretary Simon has attempted to unilaterally rewrite that law behind closed doors during politically charged litigation brought by the left’s leading election lawyer, Marc Elias.
It is worse that this policy violates the Constitution while leaving Minnesota’s elections open to abuse and fraud. The incentive to swing a close election will be enormous. It is foolish to presume that no bad actors will take advantage of it. This plan will cast doubt on the legitimacy of the election’s results, and force litigation that could drag on for weeks. If Minnesota cannot certify its election results by December, it may be excluded from the Electoral College—disenfranchising the entire state. In other words, this is a recipe for disaster.”
