Endorsement voting stalls after ‘inconsistencies’ in GOP devices
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Voting has come to a halt in the Republican Party contest for the governor’s endorsement after “inconsistencies” in the results from electronic voting technology.
Delegates took a second vote on a sixth round after officials reported issues. More than 30 minutes after results of that second attempt were expected, party leaders called a recess.
Gubernatorial hopefuls Lisa Demuth, the Minnesota House speaker, and businessman Kendall Qualls were the two candidates remaining on that ballot after other contenders failed to meet thresholds for staying in the contest. The endorsement is the last statewide race remaining for Republicans holding their convention in Duluth.
Without a resolution in the technology, additional votes could move to paper balloting. Some delegates sought to cast all votes via paper ballot Friday but came up short.
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Mike Lindell, the CEO of MyPillow and a skeptic of electronic voting technology, made it to the fourth ballot but then was dropped due to party rules.
“Why would they not want paper ballots?” Lindell asked. “It's a hidden agenda, and it's either some of them are a personal agenda, some of them I believe are afraid. They're afraid because you know the powers that be, or whatever's behind it.”
He said he’ll move on to an August primary and remains focused on challenging DFL gubernatorial candidate Sen. Amy Klobuchar in November.
“I'm running against Amy Klobuchar. This is my mindset. It has been since February,” Lindell said. “This is a waste of money for all summer.”
