A Minnesota voter sued the Minnesota Republican Party for leaving President Donald Trump’s primary challengers off the ballot, the Star Tribune reports.
Jim Martin, an independent voter, sued the party because he does not want to participate in a “Soviet-style” election, he told the outlet.
“I want to be in an American election,” he said. “It’s something that sets us apart from the world.”
The lawsuit seeks to challenge election laws that allow the party chairs to determine who appears on the ballot in the taxpayer-funded primary.
The Minnesota GOP included only Trump on their primary ballot.
Lawsuit could derail primary:
State officials told the state Supreme Court that unless the ballot issue is settled in early January there may not be enough time to print the ballots for the start of early voting on January 17.
The court, however, denied a request from the state to expedite the hearing.
“The March 3 presidential primary will be the state’s first since 1992, after a law passed three years ago did away with presidential straw polls formerly taken at precinct caucuses. The secretary of state expects the primary to cost $11.9 million,” The Star Tribune reported. “The primary ballots will include all three ‘major’ political parties in Minnesota, which also includes the Legal Marijuana Now Party.”
Martin is a De La Fuente voter:
Martin is a supporter of Rocky De La Fuente, who has run for president numerous times in the past. Martin said he was surprised to learn that he could only vote for a single candidate on the primary ballot (the GOP has since agreed to allow write-in candidates).
“This is a very stupid system and it is unconstitutional because political party chairs shouldn’t be in control of who is on the presidential primary ballot,” said Martin’s attorney, Erick Kaardal.
