What to know as early voting starts Friday in Minnesota

Mind already made up on who to vote for this election and there’s nothing that is going to change it? Headed out of town in early November? Just want to avoid polling place lines?

Starting Friday, the ability to vote sets in.

Minnesota has one of the earliest early voting periods in the country. And there are multiple ways to do it.

Where do I go to access a ballot, by mail or in person?

To vote early by mail, request an absentee ballot from the Minnesota Secretary of State’s office. It’s now possible to get on a list to automatically get an absentee ballot in each election. Some voters who live in mail-only precincts will automatically get a ballot.

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A person who isn’t registered to vote, a separate application for registration will be sent with ballot materials.

Once a ballot arrives, ask a registered Minnesota voter or notary to sign the signature envelope included in absentee ballot materials.

All voters have at least one location in their county where they can vote early with a ballot they received through the mail. Some cities also have early in-person early voting locations. These locations are usually different from a regular polling place. A full list of early voting locations is available on the Minnesota Secretary of State’s website.

Is there a deadline to be aware of?

Leave time for the mail or delivery service to get the ballot back in time.

In order for a ballot to count, a county election office must receive it by Election Day. Absentee ballots can be dropped off in person at the election office that sent the ballot no later than 8 p.m. on Election Day. There are also secured drop boxes in many locations. Voters should not bring their absentee ballot to a standard polling place on Nov. 5.

If a requested absentee ballot by mail doesn’t arrive, gets lost or is damaged, there is a process for receiving a replacement ballot by mail or in person. A county official will cancel the original ballot.

Track the status of a ballot on the Secretary of State’s website.

What happens with my ballot?

Once a ballot is mailed back inside a secrecy envelope, local election officials will make sure the voter and a witness filled out the signature envelope correctly. If it isn’t filled out correctly, election officials will mail replacement materials.

If local election officials receive a ballot that is filled out incorrectly fewer than five days before Election Day, they will try and contact you by phone or email to vote in person instead.

What if I change my mind?

A ballot can get clawed back as long as that happens at least 19 days before Election Day. To cancel a ballot, contact the election office that sent the ballot.

Before then, a person who fills out the ballot and makes a mistake can ask for a replacement ballot. If there isn’t enough time before Election Day to request a new ballot and mail that ballot back, election officials ask that voters fully cross out the name of the candidate accidentally marked. Then select your preferred candidate to make the intent clear.

While ballots can be separated from their secrecy envelopes inside of 19 days of the election and inserted into counters, those votes aren’t tabulated until after polls close.

How do I know what’s on my ballot?

View a sample ballot by entering an address into the My Ballot finder on the Secretary of State’s website.

In addition to candidates for partisan offices, Minnesota voters will also see nonpartisan local races, judicial contests and a statewide ballot measure related to the use of lottery proceeds. Some voters will also encounter local ballot measures from city or county governments or their school district.

MPR News is debuting our voter guides on Sept. 20 to help readers learn more about the candidates running in their district and read candidate responses to key questions.

I’m an out-of-state college student. Can I vote in Minnesota if I don’t have a Minnesota ID?

Paying out-of-state tuition or having a driver’s license from another state doesn’t necessarily exclude a person from voting in Minnesota. Students can register to vote in Minnesota if the address they live at is currently considered home. Update a voter registration info at the polls or online by submitting an approved photo ID and a document that proves current residency.

All colleges and universities that enroll students accepting state financial aid must send election officials a student housing list. These help students prove their Minnesota residency. That list includes students who live on-campus or have provided that off-campus address to the school and live in the city where the campus is located. Those on the list need to bring an approved photo ID to register to vote.

What are the parties doing to promote early voting and why?

A spokesperson for the Minnesota DFL said the party will hold an early voting rally with elected leaders and two “parade to the polls” events.

In a statement, Minnesota DFL Chair Ken Martin said Minnesota offers convenience some other states don’t with one of the earliest starts to voting.

“Minnesota has one of the highest voter turnout rates in the country, and that's because of state laws like early voting that makes participating in our democracy easy, accessible and secure,” Martin said.

Minnesota Republican Party Chair David Hann said the state party has been encouraging local party leaders to spread the word about early voting during in-person meetings and monthly video calls. Republicans across the country have reversed course after years of criticizing mail voting, and many are encouraging those faithful to the party to vote early if that’s what makes sense for them.

Hann said the law permits early voting and Republicans should take advantage of it even if they have questions about the process.

“We want to make sure people vote, that’s number one,” said Hann. “We want to make sure that nobody is declining to vote because they don’t want to do an early ballot and then maybe their work schedule doesn’t permit them to vote on Election Day.”

For the parties, there is a payoff from early voting. They know there are votes banked from people prone to back their candidates and they can focus turnout efforts on people who have yet to vote. Parties get regular lists of voters who have already submitted ballots.

For voters, an early vote could get them removed from call or door-knock lists, so there is incentive on that end, too.

What do statistics tell us about the interest in early voting?

Many Minnesotans choose to vote early or by mail-in ballot because they’ll be out of town on Election Day, go to out-of-state school or just want to avoid the day-of crowds.

Data collected by the Secretary of State’s office shows that 1.9 million absentee and mail precinct-only ballots were cast in the 2020 general election. That accounted for almost 58 percent of all votes cast in Minnesota in the 2020 election, which was in part due to precautions people were taking during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Those numbers fell in 2022 as pandemic restrictions and precautions eased. Of the more than 2.5 million Minnesotans who voted in the 2022 general election, around 673,000 absentee and mail ballots were accepted.