Ballot Not In The Mail? Minnesotans With Absentee Ballots Can Still Vote Early Or On Election Day

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MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — Following a federal appeals court ruling that Minnesota may not be able to extend the deadline for accepting mail-in ballots, Minnesota’s secretary of state says voters with yet-to-be mailed ballots should take other actions to be sure their votes are counted.

Steve Simon says voters should bring their filled-out ballots to a proper drop-off site any time before 3 p.m. on Election Day. (For information on where to find a drop-off site, click here.)

RELATED: WCCO Election Guide 2020

Voters can also shred their mail-in ballots and vote at an early voting site, or go to their polling place on Tuesday. (For information on early voting sites, click here.)

What if the absentee ballot is currently in the mail? Voters can track their ballots online, Simon says. If the ballot has yet to be received, voters are advised to vote at an early voting site or go to the polls on Election Day.

At an early voting site in Roseville on Friday morning, the line was long, with voters waiting more than an hour to get to the front of the line.

While voters in line had mixed reactions to this week’s appeals court ruling, no one WCCO-TV spoke with said the change had affected their plans.

On Thursday, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals sided with state Republicans, ruling that mail-in ballots in Minnesota should to be in by 8 p.m. on Election Day in order to be counted. Previously, a ballot that was postmarked Nov. 3 would still be counted so long as it arrived within a week.

While this week’s ruling doesn’t block the state’s seven-day extension period for counting absentee ballots, it does require that late ballots be segregated. Those votes may not be counted if a final order finds them unlawful. The case is now in the hands of a lower court for further proceedings.

Source: CBS Minnesota