Mike Lindell takes action targeting Minnesota’s restrictive primary recount

By Easton Martin | August 25, 2026

In a move to defend voter transparency and the integrity of Minnesota elections, Mike Lindell has taken state election officials to the Minnesota Supreme Court. Lindell filed an emergency petition on August 24, challenging a state plan that cuts corners during the official recount process for the August 11 primary election.

The petition names Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon and the Minnesota State Canvassing Board as respondents. At the heart of the legal action is what Lindell describes as an unlawful shortcut by state officials. Following Lindell’s  request for a discretionary recount under state law, the Secretary of State and the Canvassing Board adopted a controversial “Contingent Plan” that limits actual tallying to only two candidates: Lindell, designated as Candidate A, and Lisa Demuth, designated as Candidate B.

Under the state’s current scheme, all ballots cast for any other candidate in the gubernatorial primary are relegated to a separate third pile. These ballots would be left uncounted and unrecorded in the final recount totals.

Lindell argues that this two-candidate procedure directly violates Minnesota Statute Section 204C.35, Subdivision 3. The law explicitly mandates that a recount must determine the total number of votes validly cast for the office, not merely create an arbitrary sample between two designated contenders. By refusing to record the votes for every candidate on the ballot, state officials are disregarding statutory requirements and leaving voters without a complete, transparent accounting of the primary outcome.

Lindell is asking the Minnesota Supreme Court to step in immediately under Section 204B.44 to correct the state’s wrongful acts. His filing seeks an emergency hearing alongside a Temporary Restraining Order to halt the truncated recount before it begins.

The legal challenge insists on the standard that election officials must conduct a complete, lawful recount that tallies and verifies every single ballot cast for the office of Governor. For Lindell and the thousands of Minnesotans who cast their ballots on August 11, the lawsuit is an essential stand against bureaucratic shortcuts, ensuring that every legal vote is fully counted and recorded under the rule of law.