Minnesota does not have a ballot curing process for absentee/mail ballots or provisional ballots after Election Day. If you did not fill out the signature envelope correctly, election officials will mail you replacement materials, including an explanation for why your signature envelope was rejected. Or, if there are fewer than five days before Election Day, election officials will try to contact you. In this case, you can vote in person at your local election office or at your polling place on Election Day. You can track the status of your absentee/mail ballot using your state’s online tool. 

For information on federal campaign contributions, please visit Open Secrets.

Information on local, state and federal candidates and ballot measures may be available here.

Some local election officials are using drop boxes. Staffed drop boxes can be used to drop off a voter's own ballot, as well as up to three other voters' ballots if they bring an ID. Unstaffed drop boxes can only be used to drop off a voter's own ballot. To determine what kind of drop boxes are in a voter's area and where they are located, voters should contact their local election office. 

 Early Voting Starts: 46 days before Election Day 

 Early Voting Ends: The day before Election Day 

You can vote early at your local elections office. For most elections, early voting takes place during normal business hours, beginning 46 days before the election.

For federal, state, or county elections, early voting locations must be open the last Saturday before the election (10am-3pm) and the day before the election until 5pm.

If you are not registered before going to vote early, you may register in person as long as you show proof of residence.

Some places may have additional early voting hours. Be sure to contact your local election official for more information.

The next election date can be found here https://www.vote411.org/minnesota.

To find out information about local elections contact your local League of Women Voters or contact your local Board of Elections.

Most polling places are open from 7:00 am to 8:00 pm. Please contact your county auditor, county election office, or township clerk for details.

To be eligible to vote in Minnesota, you must be:

• At least 18 years old on Election Day
  • 16 and 17-year-olds may pre-register to vote beginning June 2023
• A citizen of the United States
• A resident of Minnesota for 20 days immediately before Election Day
• Not been found by a court to be legally incompetent to vote.
• Not have been ruled legally incompetent by a court of law

Incarcerated Voters and Returning Citizens

Effective June 1, 2023, individuals convicted of a felony will have their right to vote restored upon completion of incarceration, including individuals on parole or probation. Your voting rights are not restricted by pretrial detention, misdemeanors, probation, or parole.

Voters without traditional residence: 

When you register to vote in Minnesota, you must provide your current residence. This is where you sleep, so if you sleep in a shelter, at a friend's house, or outside, that is your voting residence. If you sleep somewhere without a fixed address, write a description of its location on line four of your voter registration application. For example, "In the NW corner of Jefferson Park near the intersection of Winston Ave. and Smith St." 

If you register before Election Day using an outdoor location as your residence, you will be asked to swear under oath that you live there when you go to the polls on Election Day. You can also register on Election Day if you have proof of residence. If you live in a shelter, a staff person can go to the polling place to confirm you live there. 

To register to vote by mail you need to provide your state driver's license number or state ID number. If you have not been issued a state driver's license or state ID, you will need to provide the last 4 digits of your Social Security number. If you have none of these, write NONE in box #10b of your voter registration application. This is required by law. To register at the polling place on Election Day, you must have authorized proof of residence.

This includes:

• A valid Minnesota driver's license, learner's permit, Minnesota ID card or receipt for any of these
• A valid student ID card including your photo, if your college has provided a student housing list to election officials
• A Tribal ID card that contains your picture, name, address and signature
• A valid registration in the same precinct under a different name or address
• A notice of late registration sent to you by your county auditor or city clerk
• A voter registered in the same precinct as you who can confirm your address with a signed oath
• An employee of the residential facility where you live who can confirm your address with a signed oath
• Both 1) a phot ID from the list below and 2) a current bill from the list below with your name and address in the precinct

Photo IDs (may be expired)

• Minnesota driver's license
• Minnesota ID card
• United States passport
• United States military ID card
• Tribal ID or veteran's card that includes a signature
• Minnesota University, College or Technical College ID card

Bills (delivered electronically or by mail)

• Utility bill due within 30 days of election day (telephone, TV, internet service, electric, gas, solid waste, sewer services, water)
• Rent or mortgage statement dated within 30 days of election day
• Current student fee statement
• Credit card or bank statement dated within 30 days

You must re-register if your name or address changes or you have not voted in more than four years.

Official results are not available on Election Day. Election officials are working around the clock to count an unprecedented number of ballots, and it’s essential that they take the time to make sure every vote is counted.

Official election results will be uploaded on Minnesota’s Secretary of State website as they become available. For more information on how Minnesota is ensuring secure and fair elections, visit the state's resource page.

You are a Military or Overseas voter if you are in uniformed services, living overseas OR a spouse or dependent of a uniformed services voter. To get registered and vote, you can utilize Overseas Vote Foundation.

If you have additional questions about elections and voting overseas you can use our state specific elections official directory or contact the Overseas Vote Foundation.

You can make sure we have safe, fair, and efficient elections for all. Become a poll worker today!

In order to be a poll worker in Minnesota, you must:

• Be eligible to vote
• Be able to read, write, and speak English
• Be at least 18 years of age
  • Students 16 and 17 years-old can be election judge trainees
• Be entitled to compensation, but may decline it.
• Be a resident of the state 20 days prior to the election
• Complete required training.

To sign up, contact your local board of elections.

Interpretation Services for Voters:

Beginning in 2024:

• The Secretary of State or your County Auditor must enter into contracts with translators to ensure the provision of election materials in Minnesota's three most commonly spoken non-English languages and additional languages determined based on specific state demographic criteria and/or by request.
• In precincts where language minority voters exceed 20%, an election judge proficient in a specific language must be present at polling places if at least ten voters request interpretation services, through the Secretary of State or County Auditor, at least 30 days prior to the election.
• The Secretary of State is responsible for making translated election materials available on their website.

You can find your polling place by utilizing your state resource.

If you have further questions on your polling place location, please contact your county auditor, county election office, or township clerk.

Minnesota is an “open primary” state. You can choose the party’s ballot you wish to vote. This decision does not register you with that party and it is a private decision.

If you have any questions about your state’s primary election, please contact your local election officials.

There is no provisional voting in Minnesota, Election Day (same-day) registration is available.

If you need help with voting, you can ask the election judges at the polling place for assistance in reading or marking the ballot. You may also bring someone to help you.

All polling places should be fully accessible with clearly marked accessible doors and parking spaces. If you cannot easily leave your car, you can ask for the ballot to be brought out to you. If you are unable to go to the polling place due to an illness or disability, you can vote by absentee ballot.

If you have limited vision, you may ask for voter registration and absentee ballot instructions in an alternative format. If you are hearing impaired, every county and most cities will have a TDD device for questions. Materials can be provided in braille, on audio tape, on CD or in large print. To order any brochures or to order a voter registration application and instructions on how to fill it out, contact the secretary of state's elections division at 651-215-1440 or toll free, at 1-877-600-8683. TTY: 1-800-627-3529.

If you need assistance completing the election materials, you may bring a family member, friend, neighbor or anyone you choose to help you vote. You may NOT bring your employer, your union, or a candidate for office to help you vote.

For more information, you can utilize the American Association of People With Disabilities (AAPD) resource or your state's resource.

Students should register to vote from the address they currently consider home. For many, this is likely a school address or a parent’s house. 

If you moved to Minnesota from another state and currently consider Minnesota your home, you can vote here even if you pay out-of-state tuition or have a driver’s license from another state. Please note that you cannot be registered to vote in more than one state.

If you do not consider your school address to be your home, you can apply to vote-by-mail with an absentee ballot.

Providing Voter Registration Forms to Students
Postsecondary schools in Minnesota are required to:

• provide voter registration forms to all students each spring and fall
• make voter registration forms available to all students each May and September.
• report to the secretary of state each November the status of implementing requirements to distribute voter registration forms to students.
   

Election Day registration is available in Minnesota. However, it is encouraged that you register before Election Day.

Employers are required to allow people to take time off from work for the time necessary to vote in person on Election Day and before Election Day when in-person voting is permitted. The time off is paid.

To verify your voter registration status

Some jurisdictions in Minnesota hold elections by mail instead of voting at polling places. All non-metropolitan townships and cities with less than 400 registered voters located outside of the Minneapolis/St. Paul seven-county metropolitan area can choose to hold elections by mail. If you are an active registered voter in a mail ballot precinct, you will be sent a mail ballot to your residence without having to complete an absentee ballot application.

Other options for mail ballot precinct voters on Election Day:

Mail ballot voters on Election Day from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. can:

• Return their voted mail ballot in-person to their county elections office
• Have someone else return their voted mail ballot to their county elections office (limit of three others’ ballots can be returned).
• Take their unvoted ballot packet to their county election office, vote it, and turn it in.
• Go to their county election office and inform them that your mail ballot was spoiled, lost, thrown away, etc. and:
  • Have a replacement ballot issued
  • Vote the replacement ballot
  • Turn it in
• Vote an absentee ballot because they are currently not an “active” registered voter on Election Day

For more information on mail ballot precincts click here. 

You only need ID to vote if you have not registered before arriving at the polling precinct or if you are a first time federal voter who registered by mail and whose registration was not verified. You must show one of the same IDs as are valid on Election Day registration.

Voters can call or text 844-338-8743 at any time to reach VoteRiders Voter ID Helpline

Online registration deadline: 21 days before Election Day

Register by mail deadline: Received 21 days before Election Day

In-person registration deadline: Election Day

Election Day registration is available in Minnesota. However, it is encouraged that you register before Election Day. Here are your options:

• register online
• register on paper
• register on Election Day

Automatic Voter Registration (AVR)

Minnesota has implemented automatic voter registration for eligible individuals when they apply for a driver's license, instruction permit, state ID card, or provide citizenship confirmation at the Department of Public Safety or another participating state agency. Existing registered voters will have their information updated to reflect any changes in address or name provided to the agency, and new or updated registrants will receive a postcard offering the option to decline their new registration or registration change.

Not registered? Use our registration tool to fill out your application!

The voting systems used in Minnesota are optical scan, paper ballots and DRE.

Optical Scan: With this system, you will receive a card or sheet of paper, which you take over to a private table or booth. The card has the names of the various candidates and ballot measures printed on it. With a pen or pencil you fill in a little box or circle or the space between two arrows. When you are finished filling out all the cards, you may bring the cards over to a ballot box, where poll workers will show you how to put the cards in the box. Or in some places, you may feed the completed cards or papers into a computer device that checks your card or paper right there at the polling place to make sure you have voted the way you want to and counts the votes.

Paper Ballots: Paper ballots are one of the oldest ways of voting in America. They are still used in a few places on Election Day. When you come to the polling place, you will get a paper ballot from the poll worker. You take it to the voting booth, and use a pen or pencil to mark a box next to your candidate and issue choices. You then drop the marked ballot into a sealed ballot box.

Direct Recording Electronic (DRE): This is the newest kind of system in use in the U.S. All the information about who and what you are voting for is on an electronic screen like a TV or computer screen.

There are many variations of DREs because lots of companies are inventing new ones, and many cities, counties and states are trying them out. Usually, after you have signed in, the poll workers will give you a card that you slide into a device to start your voting session.

Some of these devices will show all of the candidates and ballot choices on one big screen. Often, with these big screen devices you push a button next to the name of the candidate you want to vote for (or yes or no on a ballot measure). On other DREs, the screen is set up to show pages. On each screen or page, there will probably be one thing to vote on. For example, on one screen or page, you might vote for president. Then you might move to the next page to vote for senator. Often these small-screen devices have a touch screen, where you touch the screen next to the name of the person you want to vote for. Other devices have a key pad. And some have a keyboard, so you can write in the name of someone you want to vote for.

You let the system know you are finished voting by pushing a button, touching the screen or entering something on a keypad.

You can learn more about voting systems by checking out the Elections Assistance Commissions (EAC) resource.