3 Minnesota House lawmakers file lawsuit against Secretary of State Simon

Tuesday, Minnesota election officials plan to certify the results of the vote earlier this month, but not without a legal challenge from Republican lawmakers.

Three House Republicans are filing a lawsuit in Minnesota to delay Tuesday’s process.

The lawsuit is against Secretary of State Steve Simon.

Rep.s Steve Drazkowski, Tim Miller and Jeremy Munson are accusing Simon of illegally altering state election laws, dealing with absentee ballots and who can assist people at the polls.

"It is clear from our audits and evidence that election law rigor along with leadership at the Secretary of State’s office that will not circumvent the legislature is needed," the group filing the lawsuit said in a statement. "We look forward to working with our legislators to enact additional safeguards on ballot traceability, voter identity and technological security in the voting systems used at the county-level."

Members of the Secretary of State’s office told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS they have not seen the lawsuit but will proceed with the canvass as planned.

Meanwhile, in Washington, after weeks of delay, President Donald Trump’s administration has authorized the federal government to start the transition process for President-elect Joe Biden.

Biden transition gets govt OK after Trump out of options

More than $6 million in taxpayer money is now available to Biden, among other things.

Although the presidential transition is beginning, Trump said he is not giving up.

Monday night, he tweeted that it’s in the best interest of the country to follow protocols but that he will continue to fight and believes he’ll win.

…fight, and I believe we will prevail! Nevertheless, in the best interest of our Country, I am recommending that Emily and her team do what needs to be done with regard to initial protocols, and have told my team to do the same.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 23, 2020

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS spoke with political science professor David Schultz about the process and what this means moving forward.

"(Trump is) not conceding but what he’s doing at this point is allowing for the (General Services Administration) GSA to do a couple different things,” Schultz said. “Under federal law, the president-elect is entitled to office space and to money to help with the transition. Two, what this will also allow, Joe Biden can get, now, is access to intelligence information that the president also gets. For example, daily briefings.”

Minnesota was called for Biden on election night. The latest results show the president-elect won by about 8%.

Tuesday, Biden plans to continue moving forward by announcing key cabinet appointments.

Biden set to formally introduce his national security team