By The Way

[lsanderson]

If you ever, ever, ever hand-deliver an absentee ballot to an election judge at a precinct in Minneapolis for a wife, husband, lover, friend, or offspring, you may be profusely thanked, but that absentee ballot will never ever be counted. That's not how absentee ballots work; yet almost every election, somebody thinks IT'S A REALLY GREAT IDEA.

Now in MN, you can vote at the curb, you can vote in a nursing home, you can vote by absentee ballot, and you can vote at the polls, but you cannot hand-deliver an absentee ballot to a precinct.

Comments

[kightp.livejournal.com]

That's ... bizarre. Even here in Oregon, where *all* ballots are "absentee" - which is to say, sent to us in the mail - we're allowed to hand-deliver them on election night if we want.

No, it's state law

[lsanderson.livejournal.com]

Your completed absentee ballot must be received by your county auditor by Election Day, or it will not be counted. There are four ways you can return your absentee ballot:

Mail back your ballot in the pre-paid envelope provided by your county auditor.

Up until 5 p.m. on the day before the election, you may deliver your ballot in person to your county auditor.

You may also have someone else return your completed ballot, sealed in its envelope, to your county auditor until 3 p.m. on Election Day. Persons delivering ballots may not do so for more than three voters.

If you are worried about your ballot not arriving on time through the U.S. Postal Service, you may choose to pay for an express delivery service (such as FedEx, UPS, DHL) to return your ballot. Ballots must be received by your county auditor on 3 p.m. on Election Day.

All ballots in MN must be counted at the polls on election day.

[sethb.livejournal.com]

Absentee ballots may be delivered to the county auditor up to 3 PM on Election Day.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

Hand-deliver them to where?

K.

[kightp.livejournal.com]

The county elections office, as well as official "Vote Here" drop-boxes stationed around the counties, typically in front of city halls, police stations, schools, etc. Precinct workers retrieve them at 8 p.m. election night (or as soon thereafter as everyone standing in line at 8 has a chance to deposit theirs) and drive them to the elections office for counting along with all the rest of the ballots that have arrived by mail before 8 p.m. (In our vote-by-mail system, it's arrival time, not postmark time, that counts).