Minnesota presidential primary ballot includes Colorado woman, to her surprise

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A woman whose name is listed on the Minnesota presidential primary ballot as third-party candidate says she did not agree to run.

Krystal Gabel told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that she learned her name is on the March 5 ballot for Minnesota’s Legal Marijuana Now Party from a Google alert.

Party leaders told the newspaper in an email that they had been “talking and posting about this in our leadership group on Facebook, which Krystal is a part of,” and “Krystal is a party leader and all indications were that she was ready to be in the MN primary.”

They said her name has been withdrawn, though the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office says it remains on the ballot. Early voting has begun.

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Gabel is encouraging people not to vote for her.

“I did not give consent to be on the Minnesota ballot for this race,” Gabel, who lives in Colorado, said in an email to the newspaper. “I was neither approached to run for office by anyone in the LMN Minnesota Party, nor was this candidacy validated by the State of Minnesota.”

“People have a common-law right not to be forced to be candidates,” Gabel said. “These actions are absolutely anti-democratic.”

State law requires major parties to submit candidate names for the presidential primary 63 days before the election to appear on the party’s ballot. Minnesota allows people to register to vote as late as primary day. A voter must request the ballot of the party of the their choice.

Once parties submit names, changes are not made to the ballot. That means Republican candidates who have left the race, such as Chris Christie and Ron DeSantis, will appear on the GOP ballot in Minnesota.