[Mn-parents] Voting Information for 2024

Mon Oct 14 10:34:22 UTC 2024

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>In just over three weeks, we will have another important election. 
>President O'Connor asked that I update and send out voting 
>information for this year as we have sent in the past.
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>Your Options
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>We are fortunate to have multiple options for casting our ballots in 
>Minnesota. You can vote early at specific locations in your city or 
>county and use an accessible voting machine. Also, you can get an 
>accessible mail ballot as well. Finally, every poling place is 
>required to have an accessible voting machine. Remember that the 
>boundaries of congressional and legislative districts have been 
>adjusted since the previous presidential election, so the location 
>of your polling place could have changed during the past four years. 
>Here is information that we hope will be helpful.
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>Early Voting
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>First, let's take a quick look at "early voting."  After September 
>20, you can go to specific locations in your city or county and fill 
>out a ballot very much as you would if you voted on election day. 
>Each early voting location is required to have an accessible voting 
>machine. You can call your city or county offices to find out where 
>you can vote early, or you can visit 
><https://www.sos.state.mn.us/elections-voting/other-ways-to-vote/voting-locations-before-election-day/>Early 
>Voting Locations on the Secretary of State's website. In many 
>counties in greater Minnesota, there is one early voting location in 
>each county. In the Twin Cities Metropolitan area, most suburbs and 
>cities have voting locations and some have more than one location. 
>Also note that Hennepin County residents can vote at the Government 
>Center in downtown Minneapolis regardless of where you live in 
>Hennepin County. If you vote more than twenty days before the 
>election, your ballot is counted with mail-in ballots. If you vote 
>less than twenty days before the election, your vote will be run 
>through the tabulator immediately.
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>Mail-in or Absentee Voting
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>Since one no longer is required to give a reason to need an absentee 
>ballot in Minnesota, this ballot is often called a "mail-in ballot" 
>although the term "absentee ballot" is still used. Time must be 
>allowed for your mail-in ballot to get to you through the mail, and 
>your ballot must be returned by mail or dropped off by election day. 
>Being post-marked by election day is not enough.
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>Here is how it works. This information is accurate as far as we 
>know, but there are some aspects we have not been able to confirm. 
>Again this year, blind Minnesotans can vote privately, safely and 
>accessibly, because the Secretary of State did the right thing by 
>adopting an electronic tool to 
><https://nfbmn.org/voting/2020-10-24>mark mail-in ballots from home. 
>While blind Minnesotans may need assistance to sign the ballot 
>envelope and add their identification number, the ballot itself can 
>remain private. If you would like to use the mail-in ballot process 
>with the accessible ballot, please allow extra time to complete that 
>process. Also, counties can optionally provide other approaches to 
>making absentee ballots accessible, so the process explained here 
>could vary in some cases. Remember that "early voting" using an 
>accessible voting machine is an option as described above.
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>The accessible absentee ballot process used by most counties in 
>Minnesota uses a process created by a company named Democracy Live. 
>They have produced a demonstration of this process on YouTube which 
>can be played at 
><https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdi-Ge54TkM&t=3s>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdi-Ge54TkM&t=3s.
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>Follow these steps to request, complete, and return your accessible, 
>absentee ballot.
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>    * <https://www.sos.mn.gov/elections-voting/>Request your 
> absentee ballot using the standard process. This process and a lot 
> of other very useful information can be found at 
> <http://www.mnvotes.org/>http://www.mnvotes.org. You will need the 
> envelopes that will be sent with your paper, absentee ballot, so 
> don't throw them away even if you use the accessible ballot instead!
>    * 
> <https://www.sos.state.mn.us/elections-voting/find-county-election-office/?searchTerm=county%20elections>Contact 
> your county's election office (Office of the County Auditor), and 
> request an electronic ballot as a reasonable accommodation under 
> the Americans with Disabilities Act. Many counties now have someone 
> designated to handle absentee ballot requests. Some county contact 
> information is supplied at the end of this email.
>    * Follow the link and instructions that your County Auditor will 
> e-mail to you to reach the Omniballot system hosted by Democracy 
> Live. This link will be specific to the ballot that applies to 
> where you are registered to vote and is not a general link.
>    * Print the marked ballot, and seal it inside the smallest 
> envelope (called the Secrecy Envelope) sent with your absentee ballot.
>    * Insert the Secrecy Envelope into the medium-sized, white 
> Signature Envelope and seal it. At this point, you may need sighted 
> assistance to fully complete the required form fields on the 
> signature envelope. This includes your signature, a signature of a 
> witness, and the identifying code you used when you requested an 
> absentee ballot. This identifying code is either your State ID card 
> number of the last four digits of your Social Security number 
> depending upon which you chose to use.
>    * Place this sealed envelope inside the largest Mailing/Return 
> Envelope, seal it, and mail it so that it arrives by Election Day.
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>Contact the Minnesota Voter Help Hotline at (651) 215-1440 for any 
>questions related to accessible voting.
>
>The website with County contact information is pretty easy to use. 
>As shown above, that link is
>
><https://www.sos.state.mn.us/elections-voting/find-county-election-office/>Find 
>Your County Election Office
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>I found that finding your county on the list and pressing SPACE or 
>ENTER seems to work even though the county names may not be 
>identified as links or buttons. The county information will appear 
>just after the county name but the rest of the list of counties 
>remains visible. Sometimes you may find that the virtual cursor of 
>your screen reader has gone to the top of the page and you may need 
>to navigate back to the county name you selected. Here is some 
>information for several major counties that cover the Twin Cities, 
>Rochester, Mankato, Duluth, and the St. Cloud area. Sorry to the At 
>Large members not covered here.
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>Benton County
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>Election official: Christine Scherbing
>General phone: 320-968-5006
>Fax: 320-968-5337
>Website: <http://www.co.benton.mn.us/>http://www.co.benton.mn.us/
>Email: <mailto:elections at co.benton.mn.us>elections at co.benton.mn.us
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>ABSENTEE VOTING CONTACT
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>Heather Bondhus
>Phone: 320-968-5027
>Fax: 320-968-5337
>Email: <mailto:elections at co.benton.mn.us>elections at co.benton.mn.us
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>Blue Earth County
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>Election official: Michael Stalberger
>General phone: 507-304-4341
>Fax: 507-304-4075
>Website: 
><http://www.blueearthcountymn.gov/index.aspx?nid=326>http://www.blueearthcountymn.gov/index.aspx?nid=326
>Email: 
><mailto:BEC.Elections at blueearthcountymn.gov>BEC.Elections at blueearthcountymn.gov
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>STREET ADDRESS
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>Blue Earth County Historic Courthouse
>204 S 5th St
>Mankato, MN 56001
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>MAILING ADDRESS
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>Blue Earth County Elections
>PO Box 3567
>Mankato, MN 56002-3567
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>ABSENTEE VOTING CONTACT
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>Kristy Maes
>Phone: 507-304-4341
>Fax: 507-304-4075
>Email: 
><mailto:BEC.Elections at blueearthcountymn.gov>BEC.Elections at blueearthcountymn.gov
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>Hennepin County Elections
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>Phone: 612-348-5151
>Fax: 612-348-2151
>Email: <mailto:hc.vote at hennepin.us>hc.vote at hennepin.us
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>ABSENTEE VOTING CONTACT
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>Hennepin County Elections
>Phone: 612-348-5151
>Fax: 612-348-2151
>Website: <https://www.hennepin.us/>https://www.hennepin.us
>Email: <mailto:hc.vote at hennepin.us>hc.vote at hennepin.us
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>Nicollet County
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>Election official: Jaci Kopet
>General phone: 507-934-7806
>Fax: 507-931-0856
>Website: <http://www.co.nicollet.mn.us/>http://www.co.nicollet.mn.us/
>Email: <mailto:election at co.nicollet.mn.us>election at co.nicollet.mn.us
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>ADDRESS
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>Nicollet County Govt Center
>501 S Minnesota Ave
>St Peter, MN 56082
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>ABSENTEE VOTING CONTACT
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>Jaci Kopet
>Phone: 507-934-7806
>Fax: 507-931-0856
>Email: <mailto:election at co.nicollet.mn.us>election at co.nicollet.mn.us
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>Olmsted County
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>Election official: Luke Turner
>General phone: 507-328-7650
>Fax: 507-328-7640
>Website: <https://olmstedcounty.gov/>https://olmstedcounty.gov
>Email: <mailto:elections at co.olmsted.mn.us>elections at co.olmsted.mn.us
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>ABSENTEE VOTING CONTACT
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>Luke Turner
>Phone: 507-328-7650
>Fax: 507-328-7640
>Email: <mailto:elections at co.olmsted.mn.us>elections at co.olmsted.mn.us
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>Ramsey County
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>Election official: David Triplett
>General phone: 651-266-2171
>Fax: 651-266-2177
>Website: 
><https://www.ramseycounty.us/residents/elections-voting>https://www.ramseycounty.us/residents/elections-voting
>Email: <mailto:elections at co.ramsey.mn.us>elections at co.ramsey.mn.us
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>ABSENTEE VOTING CONTACT
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>Absentee Ballot Coordinator
>Phone: 651-266-2171
>Fax: 651-266-2177
>Email: <mailto:elections at co.ramsey.mn.us>elections at co.ramsey.mn.us
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>Saint Louis County
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>Election official: Nancy Nilsen
>General phone: 218-726-2385
>Fax: 218-725-5060
>Website: <http://www.stlouiscountymn.gov/>http://www.stlouiscountymn.gov/
>Email: <mailto:elections at stlouiscountymn.gov>elections at stlouiscountymn.gov
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>ABSENTEE VOTING CONTACT
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>St. Louis County Elections
>Phone: 218-726-2385
>Fax: 218-725-5060
>Email: <mailto:elections at stlouiscountymn.gov>elections at stlouiscountymn.gov
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>Sherburne County
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>Election official: Diane Arnold
>General phone: 763-765-4351
>Fax: 763-765-4400
>Website: <http://www.co.sherburne.mn.us/>http://www.co.sherburne.mn.us/
>Email: <mailto:elections at co.sherburne.mn.us>elections at co.sherburne.mn.us
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>ABSENTEE VOTING CONTACT
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>Kenneth Selser, Jr.
>Phone: 763-765-4351
>Fax: 763-765-4400
>Email: <mailto:elections at co.sherburne.mn.us>elections at co.sherburne.mn.us
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>Stearns County
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>Election official: Randy Schreifels
>General phone: 320-656-3920
>Fax: 320-203-6960
>Website: <https://www.stearnscountymn.gov/>https://www.stearnscountymn.gov
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>Email: <mailto:elections at co.stearns.mn.us>elections at co.stearns.mn.us
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>ABSENTEE VOTING CONTACT
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>Julie Ritz
>Phone: 320-656-6522
>Fax: 320-203-6960
>Email: <mailto:julie.ritz at co.stearns.mn.us>julie.ritz at co.stearns.mn.us
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>Washington County
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>Election official: Christine Piskura
>General phone: 651-430-6175
>Fax: 651-430-6178
>Website: <http://www.co.washington.mn.us/>http://www.co.washington.mn.us/
>Email: <mailto:elections at co.washington.mn.us>elections at co.washington.mn.us
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>ABSENTEE VOTING CONTACT
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>Washington County Elections
>Phone: 651-430-6175
>Fax: 651-430-6178
>Email: <mailto:elections at co.washington.mn.us>elections at co.washington.mn.us
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>I hope this information is helpful, but please remember that some 
>parts of this process could be different in your particular county.
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>Best regards,
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>Steve Jacobson
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