This database consolidates and tracks litigation concerning the effect of the pandemic on election law. The purpose of this tool is to provide an interactive list of relevant cases that can be searched by issue, court, status, and jurisdiction.
Case Details
Kistner v. Simon II
Closed
Kistner v. Simon, No. 19AV-CV-20-2183 (Dakota Cty.) |
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| Case Summary | Election contest under Minn. Stat. ยง209. Contestants, Minnesota voters, challenged the results of Minnesota's general election. They argued that the Secretary of State's suspension of Minnesota's witness requirement for absentee ballots violated the Equal Protection Clause since it meant the ballots were "processed differently." They further argued that the agreement to suspend the witness requirement was a violation of the state separation of powers. Finally, contestants claimed that Minnesota violated election law in its post-election review process. Contestants sought the guarding and inspection of all absentee ballots and related election materials. | |
| Filed | 11/27/2020 | |
| State | Minnesota | |
| Type of Court | State | |
| Status | Closed | |
| Last Updated | 05/12/2021 | |
| Issue Tag(s) | Vote-by-Mail (Claim that Mail Voting Leads to Fraud and/or Vote Dilution) | |
| Complaint(s) | 11/27/2020: Complaint filed. | |
| Dispositive Ruling(s) | 12/15/2020: Order/Ruling, The court held that it lacked subject-matter jurisdiction, since contestants failed to allege that the contestees did not get the highest number of votes legally cast. The court further held that contestants were barred by laches, because the witness-signature requirement was suspended in August but contestants only filed after the election. Lastly, with respect to contestants' allegations that Minnesota's post-election review process did not have judges present, the court held that Minnesota Election Law does not mandate the use of election judges at all. | |
