Trump Campaign Asks Minnesota Supreme Court to Separate Mail Ballots Submitted After Pre-Extension Deadline

A voter leaves after filling out their ballot at the Beltrami County Administration building in Bemidji, Minn., on Sept. 18, 2020. Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

The campaigns for President Donald Trump and Republican candidates for the Minnesota state legislature have requested that the Minnesota Supreme Court separate all mailed ballots received after Election Day in the event of legal challenges to their validity.

A petition filed on Oct. 28 (pdf) on behalf of the Trump campaign, the Senate Victory Fund, the House Republican Campaign Committee, and Ryan J. Beam, against Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, argues that segregation of ballots received after Election Day is necessary as “it could be impossible for a court to repair the election results tainted by illegally and untimely cast or mailed ballots if the ballots are not segregated.”