It's official: Minnesota's primary election winners and new congressman Brad Finstad can breathe a sigh of relief. For now.
Minnesota board makes primary, special election results official
The five-member board unanimously signed off on the Aug. 9 results with little fanfare.
August 16, 2022 at 8:49PM
The state Canvassing Board unanimously certified last week's primary results and Finstad's special election win in the First Congressional District. They signed off Tuesday with little fanfare on the outcomes in races, including those for governor and Congress. Their formal approval sets the stage for the November general election, when all eight U.S. House members, legislators, the governor, attorney general and more will be on the ballot.
In an election cycle where the voting process is being closely watched by those concerned about election fraud — sometimes resulting in big crowds at local events — Tuesday's review of the results was a quiet affair. During the 2020 general election, there was a last-minute lawsuit by a group of Republicans to try to block certification. A spokeswoman for the Secretary of State's Office said she was not aware of any similar legal efforts this year.
The Canvassing Board's certification process is one of the many steps to check election results, and typically draws little attention. The five-person board is led by Secretary of State Steve Simon, a Democrat. Minnesota Supreme Court Justices G. Barry Anderson and Anne McKeig and District Judges Jodi Williamson and Karen Duncan, who both serve in southern Minnesota, are also on the board.
Before the state board met Tuesday, county canvassing boards reviewed and certified votes cast within their counties, and certified the results for races that did not extend past their county's borders. The state board certifies the results for federal and statewide offices, as well as legislative and judicial offices that serve more than one county.
If a recount is requested, the state Canvassing Board will oversee it. No primary or special election race last week met the threshold for a publicly funded recount, Elections Director David Maeda said, but the DFL primary for state Senate's Seventh District in northern Minnesota came very close. Maeda said he has an "inkling" that there could be a discretionary candidate-funded recount there.
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