Good morning! We’re going to take the long weekend to recharge, so your next edition will arrive on Tuesday (but you can get your fill of MPR at MPR Day at the Fair today).

A federal plan to restrict mail-in voting is on pause, but if it’s implemented before midterms DFL Secretary of State Steve Simon predicts it would “be a real mess.” President Donald Trump has directed the U.S. Postal Service to only send mail ballots to voters on citizenship lists created by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Social Security Administration, arguing a voter list would ensure only eligible voters get ballots. A whistleblower has come forward alleging the online portal USPS created to implement the plan is "rushed," "risky" and "haphazard" and could reject batches of ballots if just one can't be verified. Secretary Simon spoke with MPR News’ Cathy Wurzer about how the USPS proposal could affect Minnesota voters and why Minnesota joined a lawsuit to block the plan. A federal judge paused the USPS plan for now and litigation is ongoing. Arguments were heard yesterday in a Boston federal court as part of a separate lawsuit filed by a group of nonpartisan voter service organizations who allege the USPS plan would disenfranchise voters. Trump asked the U.S. Supreme Court yesterday to step in and allow his plan to advance.

Wisconsin voters are being asked to render a verdict on Minnesota — and vice versa. A western Wisconsin race in a district bordering Minnesota is seen as one of the linchpins to determining assembly control. The incumbent, Republican Shannon Zimmerman, has been up on Minnesota airwaves as has an aligned group trying to scuff up Democratic nominee Kevin Knoke. The spots accuse the challenger, a veteran and teacher, of trying to raise property taxes and defund police. It uses unflattering pictures of Gov. Tim Walz, of past civil unrest and other alarming images as the narrator warns voters to “Keep the Minnesota mess out of Wisconsin.” Republicans currently hold a 54-45 edge in the Wisconsin Assembly; Senate party control is also on the line with Republicans defending an 18-15 majority. Wisconsin’s Republican nominee for governor, Tom Tiffany, has also made Minnesota into a punching bag with the slogan “Don’t Minnesota my Wisconsin” in his campaign arsenal. Meanwhile, DFLer Amy Klobuchar is bringing up Wisconsin in her governor campaign. Namely, she has frequently cited a Wisconsin billionaire, Richard Uihlein, as the top donor to a pro-Lisa Demuth group airing attack ads in this race and says he is “trying to buy Minnesota’s governor seat.”

Bookmark this comment this week from Republican governor candidate Lisa Demuth on executive action. The power tension between legislative bodies and executive branch leaders is elevated in the aftermath of COVID-19 orders and more recently President Donald Trump’s go-it-alone reflex in a second White House term. Closer to home, think Gov. Tim Walz’s recent executive order to ward off certain mining up north. Demuth, who is Minnesota’s House speaker now and hoping to become governor next year, was asked by KARE 11’s Danny Spewak how she might use executive action in the context of housing. But Demuth answered more broadly: “I think executive action has its place, but we do better when we have a representative form of government. Those are the representatives, and being a legislator, I can say this: I am the closest one to my community.” Klobuchar, having been in legislative office and ran for president in the past, has commented before about the importance of power balances between the branches. Here she was in 2019 amid her campaign for president. “I believe, just as our founders did, in the separation of powers. Our system of checks and balances is essential. The Trump administration has ignored these checks and balances. Instead, Donald Trump pursued his divisive agenda by undermining our democracy and exploiting executive power.” In that speech, she didn’t rule out using executive authority, however.

Who knew there was a world record for being a political gladhander? Matt Little apparently. The DFL nominee for Minnesota’s open 2nd Congressional District seat is out to break the existing record and using the built-in crowds of the State Fair to do it. The Star Tribune’s Sydney Kashiwagi reports that Little will try to shake 30 hands per minute for eight hours on Sunday. Thankfully, she did the math: 15,000 hands (that’s going to require a lot of Purell). The standing record is Bill Richardson’s 13,392 at New Mexico’s State Fair when he was running for governor. Little will need to find substantially more votes — probably hundreds of thousands — if he’s going to get to Congress this fall in a race against GOP nominee Eric Pratt in a district south of the Twin Cities.

Working group considers how the Minnesota Capitol grounds could become the Melissa and Mark Hortman Memorial State Park. This spring, lawmakers tasked a working group with making recommendations including funding for the proposed park and who would be responsible for educational programming and public engagement activities. Yesterday , the group learned about three other states that have designated their Capitol malls as state parks: California, Oregon and Tennessee. The parks offer green spaces and tours to the public. The Tennessee park has a 2,000-seat amphitheater that hosts outdoor concerts and theatre. St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her, a working group member, said “I want this park and I love it, the idea of it. I just want to make sure that St. Paul's taxpayers aren't the ones who end up paying for the cost of managing the park.” DFL Rep. Ginny Klevorn said she’d love to see a public ice rink on park grounds.

Get your bingo on yet? Share photos of you using the MPR News campaign bingo game during your visit to the State Fair. Cait Kelley and Peter Cox would love to know how you stacked up to their search for the candidates doing candidate things and those trying to get creative about it. There are two versions of the bingo card, one for Player 1 and one for Player 2.