Nearly 1 million Minnesotans have already voted in November election

A pair of hands prepares a mail-in ballot.
An election official in Stearns County prepares an absentee ballot packet earlier this month. As of Friday, more than 900,000 Minnesotans have cast their ballots for the general election.
Paul Middlestaedt for MPR News

More than 900,000 Minnesotans have already voted in the November general election as of Friday, two and a half weeks before Election Day.

That’s already more than the roughly 675,000 Minnesotans who voted early in 2016. And there are as many as 744,000 absentee ballots requested but not yet submitted, according to the latest data from the Minnesota Secretary of State office.

Absentee ballots requested and accepted as of Oct. 16

Not everyone who requests an absentee ballot will end up submitting it. Some won’t vote, and others will decide to vote in person.

So far early voting is concentrated in parts of the state where lots of Democrats live.

Early voting as of Oct. 16 by county, vs. Donald Trump's 2016 vote share

The heavily Democratic counties of Hennepin and Ramsey, for example, have seen around one-third of registered voters submit ballots already. Just 10 percent have voted in the Republican stronghold of Sherburne County, in contrast.

Absentee ballots requested/accepted by county on Oct. 16 vs. electorate

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