How is your vote counted?
Whether you vote in person or by mail, there are numerous checks to ensure an accurate count.
Local elections officials in Minnesota are encountering more questions about voting than ever before as former President Donald Trump and his allies have sowed distrust in elections. Here's what happens to your ballot after you select the candidates, using Hennepin County as an example.
(Icon of a ballot and reader can choose): Are you voting in-person on Election Day or by mail?
In person on Election Day:
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- Place your ballot in an "optical scan" counter. These are used by all but a small number of precincts in counties outside the metro area that rely on hand counting. Before the election the counting machines undergo a series of accuracy tests by federally accredited labs, the Minnesota Secretary of State's Office and local officials. Counties and cities do public tests where election judges of different major parties witness and sign off on the equipment's accuracy.
2. Throughout Election Day, election judges at polling places look for discrepancies between the number of ballots cast and the number of people who checked in. When polls close at 8 p.m., election judges print out the results and sign off on them in a process that is open to the public.
3. Election judges transmit the results electronically to a secured county server. The numbers are combined with absentee results in a county election system that is not connected to the internet to prevent hacking. The numbers are posted on the Secretary of State's website.
4. On election night, the paper ballots are placed in sealed transfer cases, and election judges sign the seals. No cases are opened until the post-election review or recount, if there is one. Judges bring those cases, the printout of the results and memory sticks with the electronic data to their local city hall where clerks review precinct statistics and confirm that the number of votes matches the number of ballots cast.
5. The day after the election, city workers bring the printout of the election results and memory sticks with the electronic data to county officials. Those officials then compare the printed in-person and absentee ballot totals with the results listed on the Secretary of State's site to check for errors.
6. A five-person state or county canvassing board reviews and certifies the results. The state canvassing board is led by the Secretary of State, who appoints two Minnesota Supreme Court justices and two district court judges to serve on the board. The county version includes the county auditor, two county board members who are not up for election, the mayor of the county's most populous city and a district court administrator. The canvassing boards are also responsible for overseeing recounts if needed.
7. Counties do a post-election review of the results. State law requires a hand count of votes cast in randomly selected precincts for the president, governor and U.S. senators and representatives. The sealed cases of paper ballots from those precincts are opened and tallied. That count is compared with the results from the ballot counting machines.
By mail:
- Your ballot goes inside three envelopes. First, an unmarked one. Second, an envelope on which you write your driver's license number, a Minnesota ID number or the last four digits of your Social Security number. Both you and a witness — either a registered Minnesota voter or a notary — must sign and list your addresses on that envelope. That goes in a third envelope and gets dropped in the mail.
2. The county election office receives the ballot and an absentee ballot board reviews it. At least two members of the board make sure the signature envelope was properly filled out and your ID number is verified. They also check that you are registered to vote, or have filled out a voter registration form, and haven't already voted.
3. Accepted voters are recorded in a statewide voter registration system. Elections workers conduct audits to ensure the number of paper ballots matches the count in the system before they store the ballots, again before those ballots are opened and once more when ballots are counted.
4. Ballots are stored in a secure area until a week before the election. Then they are run through a ballot tabulator, which is a high-speed version of the machines used to tally in-person votes. Before the election, the counting machines undergo a series of accuracy tests by federally accredited labs, the Minnesota Secretary of State's Office and local officials. The county does a public test on the absentee ballot counting machine, where election judges of different major parties witness and sign off on the equipment's accuracy.
5. On election night, county officials press a button to produce a results report of the absentee vote totals. Those numbers are combined with in-person polling results in a county election system that is not connected to the internet. The numbers are posted on the Secretary of State's website. The next day, county elections officials compare in-person and absentee ballot totals with the results listed on the Secretary of State's site to check for errors.
6. A five-person state or county canvassing board reviews and certifies the results. The state canvassing board is led by the Secretary of State, who appoints two Minnesota Supreme Court justices and two district court judges to serve on the board. The county version includes the county auditor, two county board members who are not up for election, the mayor of the county's most populous city and a district court administrator. The canvassing boards are also responsible for overseeing recounts if needed.
7. Counties do a post-election review of the results. State law requires a hand count of votes cast in randomly selected precincts for the president, governor and U.S. senators and representatives. That count is compared with the results from ballot counting machines.
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