These MN Counties Are Returning Absentee Ballots Fastest: Data

ST. PAUL, MN — More than 419,000 Minnesotans have already cast absentee ballots ahead of the Nov. 3 general election, but voters in some counties are getting their ballots in far faster than others.

As of Oct. 23, 688,688 voters had applied for absentee ballots statewide and 419,189 ballots had been accepted, according to the latest absentee voting data from the Minnesota Secretary of State's Office.

That means about 61 percent of requested ballots are already in. In-person early voting accounts for most of them, with 241,348 ballots cast in person and 177,841 by mail.

The accepted ballots already equal about 62 percent of the 673,360 absentee ballots accepted in the entire 2022 midterm. In the 2024 presidential election, more than 1.31 million absentee ballots were accepted.

Here are the counties where the largest share of requested ballots had been accepted as of Oct. 23:

1. Steele County: 81.1 percent (2,008 of 2,476)
2. Rice County: 76.2 percent (4,420 of 5,797)
3. Douglas County: 76.1 percent (2,792 of 3,667)
4. Chisago County: 75 percent (3,315 of 4,420)
5. Washington County: 74.2 percent (26,107 of 35,198)
6. Kanabec County: 73.9 percent (616 of 833)
7. Carver County: 73.8 percent (8,964 of 12,148)
8. Anoka County: 73 percent (23,454 of 32,116)
9. Todd County: 72.8 percent (684 of 940)
10. Redwood County: 72.6 percent (599 of 825)

At the other end, these counties had the lowest return rates:

1. Rock County: 26.8 percent (737 of 2,755)
2. Grant County: 27.5 percent (952 of 3,457)
3. Pipestone County: 27.7 percent (786 of 2,840)
4. Lac qui Parle County: 28.5 percent (686 of 2,406)
5. Lake of the Woods County: 28.7 percent (647 of 2,255)

In the Twin Cities metro, Hennepin County leads the state in raw numbers by a wide margin, with 113,948 accepted ballots and a return rate of 69.8 percent.

Dakota County followed with 35,871 accepted ballots (69.1 percent), then Ramsey County with 35,491 (64.7 percent), the lowest return rate in the seven-county metro. Scott County stood at 69.7 percent.

The return rate reflects how many requested ballots have been accepted so far, not overall turnout, since it doesn't account for the number of registered voters in each county. Many voters who requested mail ballots may still be filling them out.