Mike Lindell, the MyPillow founder and election denier, has offered to personally fund a recount and audit of all paper ballots from Minnesota's Republican gubernatorial primary, which he lost. He cited a state law allowing candidates to request a full hand count, despite the margin of defeat being outside the threshold for a state-funded recount.
Mike Lindell's continued pursuit of election recounts, despite significant financial costs and repeated legal rejections, highlights the ongoing impact of election denialism on political processes and public discourse.
Mike Lindell, the MyPillow founder and a prominent election denier, has announced his intention to personally fund a recount and audit of all paper ballots from Minnesota's Republican gubernatorial primary, which he lost. Lindell finished a distant second to Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth in the August 11 election, with a margin far exceeding the 0.25% threshold that would trigger an automatic state-funded recount.
Lindell stated in a press release that a Minnesota law allows candidates to request a complete hand count of ballots. His campaign has alleged "irregularities identified in election-night electronic reporting data." According to CBS News, Minnesota secretary of state general counsel Lauren Bethke estimated in a letter that a full recount for the governor and lieutenant governor races would cost approximately $825,000. Lindell reportedly has until August 24 to submit both the request and payment to the secretary of state's office.
This latest challenge follows Lindell's persistent claims about a rigged election in 2020, for which he has spent millions of dollars pursuing lawsuits and documentaries, all of which have been rejected by courts. Last month, Lindell settled a $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems over similar claims.