At the Polling Place

Polling Place Accessibility

All polling places should be fully accessible to elderly individuals and individuals with disabilities.  This includes clearly marked accessible doors, curb cuts or ramps where necessary, and at least one parking space for persons with disabilities near the accessible entrance.

Personal Assistance

If you need assistance due to the inability to read English or have a physical inability to mark a ballot you may obtain the assistance of any individual you choose with the exception of the following: your employer, agent of your employer, officer or agent of your union, or a candidate for election. Alternatively, you may obtain the aid of two election judges who are members of different political parties. See Minnesota Statutes, Section 204C.15 for more information.

If you can’t easily leave your car, you can ask for the ballot to be brought out to you in your car. Two election judges from different political parties will bring the voting materials out and assist you.

AutoMARK

Every polling place will have an AutoMARK ballot marking device to assist blind voters or those with limited vision in marking their ballot.

Absentee Voting

You may find that you are unable to get to your polling place location on Election Day but still want to vote in the election. You may choose to vote by absentee ballot for one of the following reasons:

• Absence from your precinct
• Illness or disability
• Serving as an election judge in another precinct
• Religious discipline or religious holiday
• Eligible emergency declared by the governor or quarantine declared by the federal or state government

The easiest way to vote by absentee ballot is to do so in person, at your county auditor's office or city or township clerk’s office, during the 30 days prior to Election Day. Contact your county auditor for details.

To obtain an absentee ballot through the mail, complete the Absentee Ballot Application and send it to your county auditor by mail or fax. Your ballot will be sent to you when it is ready (as early as 30 days before Election Day).  Your voted absentee ballot must be received in your precinct by Election Day when the polls close, or it will not be counted.

Absentee Ballot Application
Election Official Directory

Permanent or Ongoing Absentee Ballots

An eligible voter who is permanently disabled, or who expects to be unable to go to their polling place on an ongoing basis, may request to receive an absentee ballot before each election by completing the Application to Automatically Receive Absentee Ballot Applications.  Voters on this list will receive an Absentee Ballot Application by mail before every election.

Health Care Facility Residents

The city clerk’s office will send out teams of election judges during the 20 days preceding the election to distribute absentee ballots to residents of the facility and to provide assistance in absentee balloting, if needed.

Delivery of Absentee Ballots by Others

The following voters may authorize an agent (usually a friend or relative) in writing to pick up and return an absentee ballot for them:

• Patient in a healthcare facility (hospitals, residential treatment centers and nursing homes governed by Minnesota Statutes Sections 144.50 or 144A.02)
• Participant in a residential program for adults licensed under Minnesota Statutes Section 245A.02, Subd. 14
• Resident of a shelter for battered women as defined in Minnesota Statutes Section 611A.37, Subd. 4
• Resident of an assisted living facility governed by Minnesota Statutes Chapter 144G
• Voter who would have difficulty getting to the polls because of incapacitating health reasons, or who is disabled

The voter must complete the Request for Agent Delivery of Absentee Ballot form and the Absentee Ballot Application.  An agent must have a preexisting relationship with the voter.  The agent will use the completed forms to pick up a ballot, bring the ballot to the voter, and return the voted ballot to the county auditor or city clerk. This activity may only occur the seven days preceding an election.  Ballots can be picked up until 2:00 p.m. on Election Day, and voted ballots must be returned by 3:00 p.m. on Election Day.