Minnesota Nears Election Day with Nearly One Million Ballots Accepted

(KNSI) — Nearly a million ballots have been accepted ahead of the November 5th general election, according to the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office.

Since voting began on September 20th, local election officials have distributed 1,205,363 absentee and mail ballots in Minnesota. Of those, 989,807 have been accepted.

What does that mean?

After an absentee or early voting ballot has been returned and received at the elections office, each envelope is reviewed by at least two board members. Once the board checks to make sure the name and address match what was on the absentee application, the ID matches what was on the absentee application, the envelope has been signed, and a witness has also completed their portion, then the ballot is accepted.

There are also safeguards in place to make sure the voter is registered or has included a properly completed voter registration form and that the person has not already voted.

All absentee ballots are tracked individually and linked to a voter in the state’s voter registration database. Once a ballot is accepted, if that voter tries to vote again, the election official or election judge will see that the voter has an accepted ballot. Voter rosters in the polling place are even updated throughout election day as more absentee ballots are accepted.

According to the Secretary of State’s Office, “Accepted ballots are set aside in a secure area, separated by precinct. Starting 18 days before the election, the signature envelopes are opened, and the ballot envelopes are removed and set aside so that no one knows whose ballot is whose. Once the ballot envelopes are separated, they are opened, reviewed by ballot board members, duplicated if necessary, and inserted in the ballot counter. Ballots need to be duplicated if a ballot is not readable by the ballot counter, for example if a ballot is damaged or on the incorrect ballot style for that precinct.”

Ballots can be counted before the election, but no totals are produced until polling places close at 8:00 p.m. on election night.

Absentee voting statistics will be updated today, November 4th, and again on Election Day, November 5th.

Nearly 175,000 ballots have not yet been returned. Minnesotans are encouraged to return their ballots in person to their local election office as soon as possible to ensure their vote is counted. Returning a mail or absentee ballot by mail is no longer recommended. All ballots must be received by 8:00 p.m. on Election Day to be counted.

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