Stay Curious. Stay Connected.
MailNewsletters♡Donate Now
Sign up
*Password must be at least 8 characters and contain one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter, one number and one symbol.
Already have an account?
By submitting, you consent that you are at least 18 years of age and to receive information about MPR's or APMG entities' programs and offerings. The personally identifying information you provide will not be sold, shared, or used for purposes other than to communicate with you about MPR, APMG entities, and its sponsors. You may opt-out at any time clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of any email communication. View our Privacy Policy.
Sign in to your profile
Forgot Password?
New to MPR News?
Welcome back
to news
for you
Reset Password

Enter the username on file and we'll send you a code to reset your password.

Still require assistance or not sure what your User Name is?
Welcome back
to news
for you
Email Verification

A verification code has been emailed to

Still awaiting the code?
Election 2020
Brian Bakst

Nearly 1.7 million Minnesotans have cast ballots in early voting

A person votes in a room.
A man votes on the first day of early voting inside of the Beltrami County Community Service Center in Bemidji, Minn., on Sept. 18.
Evan Frost | MPR News file

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

Updated: 10:30 p.m.

Almost 1.7 million votes have been cast already in Minnesota, the state’s top election official said Sunday. 

Secretary of State Steve Simon told MPR News that 1.68 million votes — about 57 percent of  total votes in the last presidential race — had been received and marked accepted by city and county election offices.

Simon said there are just shy of 300,000 absentee ballots, and ballots from mail-only precincts, that haven’t yet been submitted. But he said some of the voters holding those ballots were likely to vote in person and others could see their ballots arrive to be counted before Tuesday.

He urged people to check the status of their ballot at mnvotes.org, and consider voting in person if a ballot remains outstanding.

“You can override the in-transit ballot. And what happens then is you will vote in-person and when that ballot arrives say Wednesday, Thursday or Friday it just won’t be counted,” Simon said. “It will be invalidated. The voter will have been shown as already having voted in-person.”

The fate of in-transit ballots was thrown into doubt by a recent federal court ruling that said tardy ballots — ones postmarked by Election Day but arriving after Tuesday — could eventually be removed from vote totals. Officials must segregate ballots that come in late pending additional litigation. 

Simon said local elections officials plan to count ballots that arrive through Nov. 10.

“We’ll do as the court has ordered and segregate the ballots," he said. "But we are going to count and tally every last vote for every last office.”

Anyone whose ballot has been marked accepted can no longer change their vote.