MINNEAPOLIS — On Friday, Secretary of State Steve Simon said that he, in consultation with Attorney General Keith Ellison's office, won't seek a stay of the 8th Circuit decision at the US Supreme Court.
This follows a federal appeals court ruling that Minnesota may not extend the deadline for accepting mail-in ballots.
Simon says voters with ballots, not mailed in yet, should take other actions to be sure their votes are counted.
In a ruling issued Thursday, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered absentee ballots arriving after Election Day to be separated and potentially removed from the final vote totals, depending on future court rulings.
The ruling casts doubt on whether absentee ballots received after Nov. 3 will be counted, despite a state plan to continue to count absentee ballots received within seven days of the election (Nov. 10). The special exception was made due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The Secretary of State released this statement:
“In consultation with the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office, we have decided not to seek a stay of the 8th Circuit decision at the US Supreme Court. We disagree with the court’s decision, and there may be cause for litigation later. While Minnesota will comply with the 8th Circuit's ruling to segregate the ballots received after November 3, we need to emphasize that there is no court ruling yet saying those ballots are invalid. We absolutely reserve the right to make every argument after Election Day that protects voters. For now, our focus is to make sure that every Minnesota voter knows to cast their ballot by 8 p.m. on November 3, and that every ballot legally cast is counted.”
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