Minn. Dems make push to oust Trump from ballot

Democrats in Minnesota filed suit with the Supreme Court to get Republican nominees Donald Trump and Mike Pence thrown off the ballot for the general election Friday.

Brodkorb wrote in MinnPost this week that the recent ballot flub may indicate state Republicans are less than thrilled about Trump being their nominee. Absentee and early voting for the November election begins September 23 in Minnesota.

A separate petition Martin filed, it said, names Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon as the defendant following his actions in August.

But if history is any guide, the gambit is doomed, according to Richard Winger, an election law expert and editor of the San-Francisco-based newsletter Ballot Access News.

Democrats brought on a pair of veteran election attorneys to make their case to the Supreme Court: Marc Elias and David Zoll, who both helped in the recounts that eventually elected Democrats Al Franken to the U.S. Senate in 2008 and Mark Dayton in the 2010 gubernatorial election. “They are always excused, and when it goes to court, they always win”. Electors are the individuals who actually cast Minnesota’s 10 Electoral College votes.

“At no time thereafter did the State Republican Party hold a “convention” called and held under the supervision of the State Republican Central Committee during which delegates nominated alternate presidential electors”, reads the document, which was obtained by CNN.

The petition states: “After being notified that they had failed to provide the names of alternative electors by the Secretary of State’s office, Republicans made a decision to appoint alternate electors in a closed-door meeting rather than electing them”.

More information will be reported as it becomes available. Even though Trump is not expected to carry Minnesota, the reaction from across the nation that the GOP candidate missed the ballot in a state could spell disaster for the campaign. The party’s legal filing said that is in keeping with the law, because the convention delegates empowered the executive committee to take such actions.

The Minnesota Republican Party hasn’t commented on the lawsuit.