Minnesota Secretary Of State - 431,502 Ballots Sent in First Week of Voting for November 5 Election
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431,502 Ballots Sent in First Week of Voting for November 5 Election

September 26, 2024

Voting began on September 20 for the November 5 Election

SAINT PAUL – In the first six days of voting, local election officials in Minnesota have distributed 431,502 absentee and mail ballots. County, city, and township election officials have accepted 32,788 ballots.

The number of Minnesotans who are voting early in the November 5, 2024 election is fewer than in 2020 during the pandemic when 1,246,810 ballots were sent in the first week, but nearly three times higher than in 2016, when 150,488 ballots were sent in the first week.

“Voting season has begun and Minnesotans are clearly excited to make their voices heard,” said Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon. “There is still plenty of time left for folks to do their research on the candidates and issues that will appear on the November 5 ballot - and our website mnvotes.gov is here to help. At mnvotes.gov, voters can get registered, request an absentee ballot, view their sample ballot, find their polling place, and more.”

The Office of the Secretary of State will update absentee voting data each Thursday through the fall.

In Minnesota, there are three ways to vote:

  1. By Mail: Minnesotans can vote by mail by requesting a ballot at mnvotes.gov/absentee starting September 20. About 150,000 Minnesotans live in mail ballot precincts and will be mailed a ballot automatically if they are registered to vote. Ballots must be received by local election offices by 8 p.m. on Election Day to be counted. Voters can track their ballot at mnvotes.gov/trackmyballot.

  2. Early In-Person: Minnesotans can vote absentee in person at their local election office during business hours between September 20 and November 5. There are also special early voting hours during the 2024 General Election:
    • Saturday, October 25 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
    • Tuesday, October 29 open until 7 p.m.
    • Saturday, November 2 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
    • Sunday, November 3 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
    • Monday, November 4 open until 5 p.m.

  3. In-Person on Election Day: Minnesotans can vote in-person at their local polling place on Tuesday, November 5. Find a polling place at mnvotes.gov/pollfinder. All polling places are open until 8 p.m. As long as voters are in line to vote by 8 p.m. they can vote. In Minnesota, people can register to vote on election day.

Graph comparing early voting in 2016, 2020, 2024

 

2016 Sent  

2016 Accepted 

2020 Sent 

2020 Accepted 

2024 Sent 

2024 Accepted  

Week 1 

150,488 

14,225 

1,246,810 

75,511 

431,502

32,788 

Week 2 

209,197 

46,467 

1,410,010 

336,017 

 

 

Week 3 

270,984 

88,593 

1,539,250 

635,003 

 

 

Week 4 

351,775 

150,973 

1,655,910 

911,385 

 

 

Week 5 

439,300 

250,123 

1,765,330 

1,186,522 

 

 

Week 6 

554,308 

415,986 

1,969,730 

1,581,193