As power-sharing negotiations continued in the Minnesota House Tuesday, Republicans opened another front to pressure Democratic-Farmer-Labor representatives to return to the state Capitol.

Minnesota Republicans announced they’ll make good on their threats to file petitions to hold recall elections for 66 Democratic-Farmer-Labor House members boycotting the legislative session.

The move comes after the House Republican caucus last week announced a lawsuit aimed at compelling DFL members to return. However, they’ll have to clear a major hurdle that already tripped up House Republicans less than two weeks ago.

Both the petitions and the lawsuit need to get through the state Supreme Court, which recently ruled in favor of House DFLers in a dispute over quorum, shutting down a Republican takeover of the chamber in the Democrats’ absence.

Lengthy process

The Minnesota recall process is a lengthy one that will have to be approved by the Supreme Court before anyone can even sign the actual petition. That has never happened since voters approved the process in 1996, according to the state’s court information office.

The total length of the process could be about 10 months, according to Minnesota Republican Party Executive Director Jennifer DeJournett, who said the party had “put a serious petition together” that would be accepted by the justices.

Despite the lengthy timeline and no history of successful recall petitions, the state GOP moved forward with the petitions as a House DFL boycott has ground legislative activity to a near halt as the parties struggle over power-sharing in the House.

Reps. Melissa Hortman and Lisa Demuth. (Courtesy photo, Forum News Service)

Leaders met Monday night and again Tuesday afternoon as the House entered its 22nd day without a quorum. Asked if the recall effort might interfere with discussions, House Republican Caucus Leader Lisa Demuth on Monday said negotiations couldn’t be “complicated anymore.”

DFLers, currently at a one-seat disadvantage to House Republicans — who have 67 seats — say they won’t return unless GOP members enter a power-sharing agreement and guarantee they’ll seat DFL Rep. Brad Tabke, whose election was subject to a court dispute.

“Republicans have wasted weeks trying to overturn an election that they lost so that they can seize power that Minnesotans didn’t give them at the ballot box,” a DFL spokesperson said in a statement. “Today’s stunt shows how desperate they have become after the courts struck down their unlawful power grab and ruled that Rep. Tabke was duly elected by Shakopee voters.”

It’s widely expected the House balance will return to 67-67 after a special election is held for a vacant House seat in Roseville. Democrats are a seat short of a tie with the GOP because a judge found enough evidence to prove one of their candidates misled voters about living in the district he won.

Recall process

While Democrats describe their boycott as a legitimate “parliamentary tactic,” Republicans say that means DFLers are not fulfilling their duties as lawmakers, opening the door for recalls.

Under the state Constitution, voters can petition to have an elected official removed from office for “serious malfeasance or nonfeasance” or conviction of a serious crime.

Republicans argue DFL lawmakers, who as of Tuesday hadn’t been at the Capitol since the start of session on Jan. 14, had engaged in “nonfeasance” or “the intentional, repeated failure” to perform specific acts required of an elected official.

They did not immediately say Tuesday whether they’d withdraw the petitions if DFLers returned to the Capitol.

They also allege House DFLers engaged in malfeasance by swearing in their members at a private ceremony ahead of the session to avoid needing to attend the first day.

Petitions

Recall elections in Minnesota are “nearly impossible,” said Hamline University Political Science professor David Schultz, who worked in Minnesota politics when the process first came together in 1996. “In fact, I’ll push it further. It was designed not to work.”

To file a recall, a petitioner must first find 25 signatures in a district. That proposed petition is then submitted to the Minnesota Secretary of State, who passes it to the state Supreme Court for review.

If the Supreme Court approves the petition, it is finalized and can be circulated. It must be signed by a number of people that is at least 25% of total votes cast in the last election. Republicans estimate that’s around 5,000 or 6,000, depending on the district.

If the petition hits that threshold, a recall election must be scheduled — unless it’s six months or less from the end of an official’s term.

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