More than 1.1 million Minnesotans voted early

More than 1.1 million Minnesotans have cast their ballots before Election Day, nearly double the previous record for a non-pandemic election, Secretary of State Steve Simon said Monday.

The official count of 1,174,224 early votes is expected to grow because more than 150,000 absentee ballots sent out to voters have not yet been returned. Hennepin County, the state’s most populous county, had accepted 307,934 absentee ballots as of Sunday.

Some voters have reported long lines and wait times of more than an hour at early voting sites. Simon hopes Minnesota is on track to once again lead the nation in voter turnout, after Maine took that honor in 2022.

“We hope that we are back at number one, just as nature intended it,” Simon said with a smile during a Monday morning news conference at the Capitol. “But honestly, a lot of other states have really upped their game.”

During the pandemic four years ago, more than 1.9 million absentee ballots were accepted.

Simon said so far, this election cycle was meeting his goals of “high turnout and low drama.” He urged residents to try to remain calm and patient during the final stretch.

“Elections are supposed to be intense,” Simon said. “We just want to make sure that intensity is channeled in a positive direction.”

Simon said anyone with an absentee ballot who had not returned it could either drop it off before the 8 p.m. Tuesday deadline or to vote in person on Election Day. Voters who requested an absentee ballot will have that ballot voided if they instead choose to vote in person.

Minnesota has more than 3.7 million registered voters, but anyone who is eligible can cast a ballot. They need to be a citizen, be 18 years old, have lived in Minnesota for 20 days and not have their voting rights restricted for any reason.

This is the first election when more than 55,000 Minnesotans with felony convictions who are no longer incarcerated, but are still on probation or parole, can vote.

Voters can cast early, in-person ballots until 5 p.m. on Monday and polls are open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. on Election Day. State election officials remind residents they can vote as long as they are in line by 8 p.m.

Results will start being reported after the polls close on Tuesday and Simon expects all the state’s unofficial totals to be in by breakfast-time Wednesday morning.

Simon urged residents not to read too much into how results are reported on election night. He noted that counties often send results in big batches and the state’s reporting website is updated every 10 minutes.

He added that the Secretary of State’s Office oversees elections and reports results, but has never counted votes.

“That happens in a spread out, decentralized way, by design, in thousands of places across Minnesota,” Simon said. “In fact, it’s our friends and neighbors who are doing the counting in individual communities.”

Simon’s office has hotlines voters with questions can reach by phone call or text message. Call 877-600-VOTE (8683) or text 651-217-3862 to get information from an election official.

Janet Moore contributed to this story.