Lindell says he intends to seek a statewide hand recount of Minnesota’s GOP governor primary. The effort would require a formal request and financial guarantee for an estimated $825,000 cost.
MyPillow founder Mike Lindell says he will personally fund a hand recount and audit of every paper ballot cast in Minnesota’s Republican primary for governor. The proposed review would follow his loss to Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth by roughly 11 percentage points in the Aug. 11 contest.
The recount has not become an active statewide review. Lindell must still submit an official request and provide financial security covering the estimated cost.
What Lindell must file to start a recount
A public announcement does not itself initiate a recount. Under Minnesota law, an apparent losing candidate seeking a discretionary recount must file a request and provide funds to cover the cost within five days after the primary canvass.
In an Aug. 18 letter cited by CBS Minnesota, Secretary of State General Counsel Lauren Bethke estimated that a full recount of the governor and lieutenant governor contests would cost about $825,000. Lindell would need to provide a bond, cash or surety sufficient to cover that amount.
The reported deadline is Monday, Aug. 24, for the request and payment to reach the Secretary of State’s office. Until then, the statewide hand count remains a proposed action.
Lindell has described the overall undertaking as potentially costing upward of $1 million, including additional work by his own team. The official estimate for the full hand recount and audit is about $825,000.
Why Minnesota would not pay for this review
Demuth beat Lindell by about 11 points, well beyond the margin for a publicly funded recount. CBS Minnesota reported that the threshold applicable to this race was 0.25%.
Minnesota’s recount rules allow candidates to request a full hand count outside the narrow margin that qualifies for a state-funded recount. In that situation, the candidate requesting the review must pay for it.
- Publicly funded recount: available when a contest falls within the legal margin threshold.
- Candidate-paid recount: requested outside that threshold, with the requester covering the cost.
- Hand recount: a review of paper ballots under state and local election procedures.
Lindell has pointed to the candidate-paid provision as the basis for his planned request. His effort is not a state-paid review triggered by a close result.
What a statewide hand count would involve
Minnesota’s Secretary of State’s office has released a contingency plan for a statewide hand recount if Lindell meets the filing and funding requirements. The plan identifies the state’s director of elections, Paul Linnell, as the State Recount Official.
The official could appoint deputies and assistant deputies to oversee counting sites around Minnesota. According to documents described by CBS Minnesota, the process would be open to the public and news media.
A hand recount reviews paper ballots under the governing rules and can determine whether ballots were counted accurately. It can also identify isolated clerical or tabulation discrepancies, but it is not an open-ended investigation into campaign allegations.
Recounts can change vote totals by small amounts. Reversing an 11-point statewide result, however, would require a discrepancy on a much larger scale. Lindell has not publicly produced evidence of an error of that magnitude.
Lindell cites ballot concerns; no official finding has been reported
Lindell said he wants a hand recount and audit of every paper ballot in the governor’s race. He has said Minnesota law gives candidates the right to seek a full hand count even when a race is not close enough for a publicly funded recount.
On primary night, Lindell said he would not concede until every vote had been counted. CBS Minnesota reported that he also said his team had identified “anomalies” it wanted time to examine.
Lindell did not publicly present evidence demonstrating fraud or a counting error that would change the outcome. State election officials have not announced findings of fraud or irregularities in the Minnesota primary.
A candidate’s legal ability to request a recount does not amount to an official conclusion that a result was mishandled. The recount process is designed to review the count under election law.
Demuth moves toward the general election
Demuth, the Minnesota House speaker, is scheduled to face Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar in the Nov. 3 general election for governor. The contest follows the planned retirement of Gov. Tim Walz.
In a statement to WCCO, Demuth said she was focused on connecting with voters during the general-election campaign. She cited taxes, education, fraud prevention and Minnesota’s business climate among her priorities.
If Lindell files and funds the request, a recount would create a parallel process while Demuth transitions from the Republican primary to the statewide general-election contest. Election administrators would prepare for a costly, highly visible review despite a result that was not close.
Lindell’s previous election claims shape the response
Lindell became nationally known after the 2020 presidential election for promoting unproven claims about voting-machine companies and the election result. His post-2020 campaign has brought substantial legal consequences.
CBS Minnesota reported that Lindell settled a defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems in July. A judge also found that he defamed Smartmatic, another election-technology company; damages in that case had not yet been determined, according to the report.
That background gives the recount request added political weight. Supporters may see a full hand count as a legitimate exercise of a candidate’s statutory rights, while critics may argue that a costly recount after a double-digit defeat could extend distrust without evidence of wrongdoing.
The immediate question is whether Lindell submits the formal request and required financial guarantee by the deadline. If he does, Minnesota’s recount procedures would govern the ballot review and any changes to the official totals.
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