Once your absentee ballot leaves your hands, it moves through a series of checkpoints, records and controls. 

You seal an absentee ballot, sign the outside envelope and send it back. From there, most of the process happens out of sight. Minnesota’s system creates a record of the ballot’s return, checks whether it should be accepted, keeps it tied to the voter long enough to prevent a second vote, then separates the ballot from the voter’s identity before counting. 

A ballot with a record 

When an absentee application for a primary or general election is accepted, election officials record the voter and the ballot’s transmission in the statewide voter registration system. When the ballot comes back, its return is recorded there, too. 

That record follows the envelope, not the choices inside it. The voter’s identifying information stays on the signature envelope; the marked ballot remains sealed inside a separate ballot envelope. 

Arrival is not acceptance 

A returned ballot goes to a local ballot board. At least two members review each signature envelope, checking the voter’s name and address, identification information, signature, witness section, registration status and whether the voter has already voted. Election judges performing the review must be from different major political parties, with limited exceptions for certain local elections. 

Jory, Administrative Services Director for Crow Wing County, describes the handoff: 

“Then it goes to a ballot board, where the ballot board reviews to make sure that the outside of the envelope is filled out, the voter filled out everything correctly, and that a witness also signed and filled out everything correctly. Once it gets to that stage, it’s accepted. … it goes into a secure area where it is secured until it’s opened.” 

— Jory, Administrative Services Director for Crow Wing County 

If the requirements are met, the envelope is marked accepted. If not, it is marked rejected with the reason. When rejection happens more than five days before the election, the voter is sent a replacement ballot; within five days, officials attempt to contact the voter. 

One voter, one accepted ballot 

Acceptance is also recorded in the statewide voter database. If a voter whose absentee ballot has been accepted tries to vote again, election officials can see that accepted ballot on the voter’s record. Polling-place rosters are updated as additional absentee ballots are accepted on Election Day. 

Then identity is separated from the vote 

Accepted ballots are stored securely by precinct. Starting 18 days before Election Day, election officials may open the signature envelopes and remove the inner ballot envelopes. Once those are separated, the connection between the voter and the marked ballot is gone. The ballot envelopes are then opened and the ballots can be inserted into ballot counters. 

Absentee ballots may be processed before Election Day, but no vote totals are produced until polling places close at 8 p.m. 

Minnesota voters can also track their absentee ballot online to see its status. 

The chain is visible in the records: The ballot is logged, reviewed, accepted or rejected, secured, separated from identifying information and counted. Each step has a defined purpose, and no single person or checkpoint carries the whole process. 

Want to check your ballot? Visit the Minnesota Secretary of State’s ballot tracker.