Election Results: What Are Minnesota's Ballot Recount Laws?

ST. PAUL, MN — A number of state and local legislative races were too close to call on election night in Minnesota.

As of Wednesday morning, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison was only ahead of his Republican opponent — Jim Schultz — by less than 21,000 votes or .84 percent.

The race for Minnesota State Auditor remains even tighter. Republican Ryan Wilson is trailing Democratic State Auditor Julie Blaha by 8,471 votes, or .35 percent.

Under Minnesota law, neither race would qualify for a publicly-funded ballot recount. A publicly-funded recount can only occur in a statewide election if the margin of victory is less than .25 percent.

If the margin of victory is larger than .25 percent, a candidate has the choice to fund a "discretionary recount." The candidate must submit the funds to cover the cost of the recount within seven days of the canvassing of a general election.

The rules are slightly different for state legislative offices, where a publicly-funded recount can occur if the margin of victory is less than .5 percent.

If the margin of victory is larger than what is needed for a publicly-funded recount, then a candidate has the choice to fund a "discretionary recount." The candidate must submit the funds to cover the cost of the recount within seven days of the canvassing of a general election.

Read the state statute governing Minnesota recounts below:

Subdivision 1.Publicly funded recounts.

(a) In a state primary when the difference between the votes cast for the candidates for nomination to:

(1) a state legislative office is less than one-half of one percent of the total number of votes counted for that nomination or is ten votes or less and the total number of votes cast for the nomination is 400 votes or less; or

(2) a statewide federal office, state constitutional office, statewide judicial office, congressional office, or district judicial office is less than one-quarter of one percent of the total number of votes counted for that nomination or is ten votes or less and the total number of votes cast for the nomination is 400 votes or less;

and the difference determines the nomination, the canvassing board with responsibility for declaring the results for that office shall manually recount the vote upon receiving a written request from the candidate whose nomination is in question.

Learn more about Minnesota recounts here.