GOP owes counties money from recount

The Republican Party of Minnesota still owes counties for a massive document request leading up to the recent election recount, according to the Mankato Free Press. For the past several weeks, more than a dozen counties have been wondering if they’ll get paid for hundred of thousands of documents that were requested by the GOP on behalf of the gubernatorial campaign of Republican Tom Emmer. Those counties were threatened with lawsuits if they didn’t comply with the GOP’s requests for election documents.

“They just insisted they had to have the machine tapes right away,” Patty O’Connor, Blue Earth County elections director, told the Free Press.

“I sent bills for $800, of which Dayton paid and Emmer did not. I have requested at least three times, where’s my payment, and they’ve responded to nothing.”

Two weeks ago, southern Minnesota counties complained that they weren’t being paid after they assembled election documents under threat of lawsuit by the GOP.

GOP chair Tony Sutton, in an early November statement complaining that counties were not responding quickly enough to the party’s request, said, “We will continue to pursue any counties that do not promptly meet their legal obligations during this process. Minnesotans deserve better.”

Bridgette Kennedy, Nicollet County Auditor, told KEYC-TV back on Dec. 1, “Not that I relish the thought of completing the task and getting all the copies made, but I would feel horrible if the taxpayer dollars have been used fruitlessly with having 10,000 copies sitting here.”

The GOP told KEYC that they were looking into it. But as the Free Press reports, the counties haven’t heard a word from the GOP on whether or not they will get paid.

According to the Federal Elections Commission, the Republican Party of Minnesota faces a debt of $621,116 as of Nov. 22.