How Long Will Vote Counting Take In Minnesota: Presidential Race

MINNESOTA — Polls have closed in Minnesota in the Nov.3 general election, with Tuesday being the culmination of days of early and absentee voting — a shift seen across the country due to the coronavirus pandemic.

With voting now officially over, Minnesotans and voters across the country are waiting to see who wins the state's 10 electoral college votes: Republican President Donald J. Trump or Democratic challenger and former Vice President Joe Biden.

The coronavirus pandemic pushed the electorate to cast their ballots early and legal challenges surrounding mailed ballots ended with an Eighth Circuit panel ruling Thursday evening that election officials must "segregate" Minnesota ballots received after Election Day.

"There is no pandemic exception to the Constitution," the court ruled. The ballots that arrive after Nov. 3 will be segregated in case a later ruling finds that all post-Election Day ballots in Minnesota must be thrown out entirely. Before the ruling, mailed-in ballots postmarked by Election Day — Nov. 3 — and that arrive by Nov. 10 would be counted. Now, there is no guarantee that ballots received after Election Day will count.

It's unclear exactly when the unofficial vote count will be complete in Minnesota. "When citizens see that on election night we don't have 100 percent of the results in, it is literally by design. This is the plan." Secretary of State Steve Simon said in an online news conference in October.

"It's not evidence that anyone is hiding or concealing or rigging or stealing. It's evidence of the actual plan."

So if all of the state's races aren't called by the end of the night, do not be alarmed or surprised.

The presidential race is not the only election on the ballot voters in Minnesota will decide Tuesday. Voters will also elect their representatives to the U.S. Senate, House of Representatives, the State Senate, the State House and other local seats.