Minnesota Democrats are suing to get Donald Trump off the state's ballot

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published 9 September 2016

If the Minnesota Democratic Party gets its way, Donald Trump and his running mate Mike Pence might not appear on the state's ballot in November. Late Thursday, the party filed a lawsuit with the Minnesota Supreme Court arguing that the Minnesota Republican Party violated election rules by having an executive committee select alternate electors, Talking Points Memo explained:

Under Minnesota state statutes, major parties need to supply the name of the party's presidential and vice presidential nominees, the names of ten nominated electors and ten alternate electors in order to officially get their candidates on the ballot. As The Washington Post reported, the Minnesota GOP elected its electoral college members — the ones who actually cast the ballot — at its state convention in May, but forgot to elect alternate electors.To rectify the problem, the state party held a last-minute meeting to select the alternates, a process the Democrats say violated election law. Minnesota's secretary of state accepted the certification, and Trump was ultimately added to the ballot. [Talking Points Memo]

The alternate electors weren't the only last-minute part of Minnesota Republicans' process: Just days ahead of the filing deadline, a sample ballot was posted online that didn't include Trump and Pence. Filing was completed just in time, and the Trump-Pence ticket made the ballot. However, Minnesota Democrats contend that if Republicans violated election rules by not selecting their alternates at their state convention, Trump and Pence's names should once again be off the ballot.