Mike Lindell refuses to pay for recount in Minnesota GOP primary, files lawsuit against election officials

MyPillow founder Mike Lindell, a longtime 2020 election denier, sued the Minnesota secretary of state and election officials, claiming they changed the scope of a potential recount in the GOP gubernatorial primary this month. Lindell, who lost Aug. 11 to state House Speaker Lisa Demuth by about 45,000 votes , said last week that he would pay $825,000 on Monday to cover the cost of a full hand recount and audit of the race, in which he finished a distant second despite an endorsement from President Donald Trump. The deadline for payment came and went without the money from Lindell. He told NBC News in a phone call Tuesday that he refused to pay after he was informed that a recount would focus on the ballots cast for him or Demuth, rather than every ballot cast in the seven-candidate Republican field. “I paid this to have all of the votes counted, not just two people,” he said. “I need to have a real recount, and I will fight this in court and get that real recount.

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