Minnesota Supreme Court rejects Mike Lindell's bid to recount GOP primary

Minnesota's Supreme Court on Saturday rejected Mike Lindell's demand for a full recount of the Aug. 11 Republican gubernatorial primary, which he lost to Lisa Demuth by 45,000 votes, according to NBC News. Chief Justice Natalie E. Hudson wrote in a six-page ruling that the Minnesota secretary of state's office and State Canvassing Board were "not committing any wrongful act, omission, or error" as Lindell claimed. Lindell had initially pledged to pay an estimated $825,000 to cover a full hand recount and audit but refused to pay on Monday, the state's deadline, after learning the recount would only count ballots cast for either Lindell or Demuth. He then sued the Minnesota secretary of state's office and State Canvassing Board on Monday, claiming they pulled a "bait-and-switch" by not counting ballots for all seven candidates in the Republican field. The Minnesota secretary of state's office said in a statement Tuesday that the recount plan, approved by the State Canvassing Board on Aug. 18, "follows state law and administrative rules on recount procedures and is consistent with previous recount plans." Hudson's ruling explained that under the approved plan, ballots would be sorted between Democratic and Republican primaries, then Republican ballots separated into three piles: one for Lindell, one for Demuth, and one for all other candidates. Hudson wrote that "after all votes are sorted and counted, Lindell would know whether he is the winner over Demuth" and that "all ballots, in all piles, would be counted and subject to challenge." She also wrote that "Lindell's focus on alleged anomalies confuses the purpose of a manual recount with an election contest." Lindell told NBC News on Saturday he plans to appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. He told NBC News he would not be satisfied with anything less than a full hand recount of all ballots in the Minnesota gubernatorial primary races, arguing there were "anomalies" due to use of electronic voting machines. He told NBC News Saturday: "I'm willing to pay even more money. I don't care what it costs." In a press release reported by the Washington Examiner, Lindell stated: "One of the few good election laws Minnesota does have is that as a candidate, I have the right to completely audit and hand count every ballot in the state, and I am going to exercise that right to full extent of the law." He added: "Even if this recount and audit does not overturn my election for governor of Minnesota, I believe this is the gateway to getting rid of these electronic voting machines. One hundred and thirty-two countries have banned these machines already. The United States should be setting the standard for elections, instead we are the worst in the world." Lindell has faced legal consequences in other election-related cases. According to NBC News, he was found to have defamed a former employee of Dominion Voting Systems in June 2025, a claim he has denied. In another defamation case, NBC News reports that Lindell has refused to pay $56,369 in sanctions to voting machine company Smartmatic USA Corp., and because he has not paid the original sanctions, he now owes more than the original amount in court fees. Lindell told NBC News this month that he still does not intend to pay either the fees or sanctions in the Smartmatic case.