Donald Trump may be running the least organized presidential campaign in modern history. The Republican nominee for president almost failed to qualify for ballot access in Minnesota. Records show Trump officially filed as a candidate there today, days before a state deadline.
Keith Downey, Minnesota Republican Party chairman, told the Pioneer Press that party officials hadn’t properly finished paperwork. A complete list of alternate electoral college voters hadn’t been submitted until this morning, the newspaper reported. The deadline to qualify is Monday.
Said Downey:
“Until this week I was not aware that the secretary of state wouldn’t place our candidates on the ballot, even though that paperwork was submitted completely, until the electors were finalized.”
Apparently, campaign officials completed initial paperwork at the Republican National Convention in July. It was signed by state party leadership then. But on August 3, 22 days ago, the party learned that a list of 10 electoral college voters and alternates needed to be submitted to the Secretary of State in order for Trump to appear on the ballot. Downey told the Pioneer Press that party leaders selected alternates yesterday.
Even now, some Minnesota campaign experts complain that electors still weren’t elected properly, and that the Republican Party should not have appointed people to the positions. For example, former Minnesota Republican Party staffer Michael Brodkorb, has tweeted a storm for two days about sloppy work by the party.
UPDATE: Names of presidential electors & alternates in MN…again, #MNGOP did NOT follow law to elect alternates -> pic.twitter.com/4xevynT5Ay
— Michael Brodkorb (@mbrodkorb) August 25, 2016
Wow! #MNGOP Chair Downey admits party approved alternate electors last evening. (I'd expect legal problems ahead) -> https://t.co/q9XoBRc3Sc
— Michael Brodkorb (@mbrodkorb) August 25, 2016
UPDATE: I can confirm another alternate elector – David Pascoe – was appointed, not elected – total is 5. pic.twitter.com/2kjgOtXtSq
— Michael Brodkorb (@mbrodkorb) August 25, 2016
It may not matter come Election Day. No major outlets list Minnesota as a swing state, and the last statewide poll tracked by RealClearPolitics, a Star-Tribune poll from April, showed Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton leading Trump 48-35 in the North Star State.
But with Trump trailing Clinton in most battleground states by wide margins, forfeiting a state with 10 electoral votes by not qualifying for the ballot would show a fantastic level of incompetency.
Presidential candidates who qualified for president in Minnesota before Trump include: Clinton; Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson; Green Party nominee Jill Stein; Constitution Party nominee Darrell Castle; Socialist Workers Party candidate Alyson Kennedy; Legal Marijuana Now treasurer Dan R. Vacek; American Delta Party candidate “Rocky” Roque De La Fuente; and independent candidate Evan McMullen.
VIDEO:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gmyuJOCIak&w=420&h=315
Featured image via screengrab from YouTube video
