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Election 2024
MPR News Staff

Hennepin County says mail-in ballot processing on track after court ruling

A close up shot of files organized on a shelf.
Ballots that have been accepted by the ballot board await being opened and counted in this 2020 file photo.
Paul Middlestaedt for MPR News

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Hennepin County says it has come into compliance with a court order over how its absentee ballot board was selected, and that the ruling has not delayed the processing of mail-in ballots.

Early last week, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that Hennepin County Elections must reconstitute its absentee ballot board by Nov. 1. Siding with the Republican Party and the conservative Minnesota Voters Alliance, the judges said the county had failed to exhaust a list of Republican-preferred election judges when filling out its ballot board.

Your Minnesota voter guide

“A county must first attempt to appoint all potential election judges on the party lists who reside within the county. But respondents appointed election judges to the Hennepin County Absentee Ballot Board from outside the party lists without first contacting Hennepin County residents on the lists,” Chief Justice Natalie Hudson wrote in the court’s order.

Absentee ballot boards in Minnesota examine envelopes for proper signatures and take other steps to review ballots prior to them being counted.

Hennepin County Auditor Dan Rogan said the county immediately began work to comply with the ruling.

“In response to that, on Wednesday, we sent out an email to all members, or all people on that list, and worked to hire folks,” Rogan said. “We were able to get eight people hired.”

He said new judges began working shifts the next day and are scheduled through Election Day.

“Luckily, the ones that we were able to find were already trained as election judges, so they were able to quickly get slotted in to do this work,” Rogan said. “So there’s no delay at all that the court order created, and I don't think it causes any concerns at all about the process at all.”

As of Monday, more than 1 million Minnesotans had voted via absentee ballot and early voting.

Election officials say if you still have an absentee ballot, you should drop it off in person at your local election office. You can also go to your local polling place and vote there, and an election official will automatically cancel your absentee ballot.