Minnesota has been allowing voting by mail-in ballot or mailed in absentee ballots since 2014, but new rules this year could impact when residents learn the results of elections. Because of COVID-19 concerns, the requirement for a witness signature has been removed. But the ruling that will change when results may be available is a change in when those mail-in ballots are accepted and rejected.
In the past, mail and absentee ballots had to be in the county election officials’ hands by 8 p.m. the night of an election. The new rules state that those ballots must now be postmarked by election day and received no later than two days after the election. Polk County has moved the canvassing date (the official tally of votes) from August 13 to August 14 as a result explains Polk County Property Records Director Michelle Cote. “The reason for that is there has been a recent court decision that came out of a case where Steve Simon, our Secretary of State, and his office that was centered on counting ballots after the close of the election at 8 p.m.,” said Cote. “The outcome of that lawsuit says that we must count all absentee and mail ballots that are postmarked August 11 or before either the first day or second day after the election.”
The Taxpayer Service Center serves as the polling location for mail and absentee ballots, and Cote said the new rules change how ballots are processed. “We are the polling place for the absentee and mailing ballots,” said Cote. “It had to be in our possession by 8 p.m. Somebody could be in line to vote just like a polling place by 8 p.m., but that was how it was managed. That was the statute. But this court case has changed how we will process ballots. They must be postmarked August 11 or before. If we got one on the 13th that was postmarked August 12, we’d reject that particular ballot. They must be postmarked by that day.”
Cote said election night’s dynamics will be changed by the new rules and estimates complete results will not be available for at least 48 hours after polls close. “That changes the dynamics of election nights significantly,” said Cote. “We are still walking through how that will look, feel, and smell for us. The bottom line is we will not have complete results until I’d estimate at least 48 hours after the close of the election.”
Polk County has sent out more than 6,000 mail ballots to the districts registered to vote by mail, as well as more than 11,000 applications for absentee ballots due to COVID-19 concerns said Cote. “We are swimming in paper,” said Cote. “We sent out just shy of 11,000 absentee applications to assist in offering people an alternative to being in the polling place due to COVID-19, so they are coming back in volumes. Our drop date was July 1 for the mail-in ballots. That was about 6,300 mail ballots that went out, and it won’t take long, we’ll start to see those come back. So, at the moment, we’re swimming in paper.”
Primary elections in Minnesota will be held on August 11, and the general elections will be held on November 3.
