Important Message For Those Intending To Mail In Ballots In Wright County

Press release from the Wright County Government:

October 30, 2020

Voters,

Late Thursday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit overruled the State of Minnesota’s approved consent decree extending the deadline for submitting an absentee and mail ballots. The Court of Appeals ruling means absentee and mail ballots must be received by Election Day in order to be counted. Deadline to drop it off in person is 3 p.m.; deadline for mail or delivery service is 8 p.m. Election Officials are required to segregate and hold ballots that are returned after the above deadlines until additional instructions are provided by the Secretary of State’s office. Further Court rulings may require ballots received late be rejected.

Next Steps for Voters

Voters should no longer place their absentee ballot in the mail. Instead, voters have several options to ensure their vote is counted in the November general election:

* Voters who have already put their ballot in the mail can track their ballot at http://www.mnvotes.org/track. If their ballot has not yet been received the voter can vote in-person either by absentee, or at their polling place on Election Day.

* Voters can deliver their ballots to city hall by hand (or have someone they trust hand-deliver it for them).

* Voters can cast their vote in person with an absentee ballot at city hall up until November 2, 2020 at 5 p.m.

* Voters can cast their votes in person on Election Day, November 3. Use our Pollfinder Tool to find out where to vote.

This press release was produced by the Wright County Government. The views expressed here are the author’s own.