Primary Day is Aug. 9
Aug. 7—MANKATO — The primary election and special election for Congressional District One is on Aug. 9 this year.
Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.; as long as you are in line by the time polls close, you can still vote.
What's on your ballot depends on where you live. Voters can find out what's on theirs by visiting the Minnesota Secretary of State's website.
Some polling places might have changed this year due to redistricting. This can also be found through the Secretary of State or by checking the notice sent out in the mail to households with at least one registered voter.
Elections administrator Michael Stalberger said it's important for everybody to be prepared.
"Voters in Mankato, especially, are going to have different districts, different wards, different precincts and will most likely have a different voting location," he said. "Outside of Mankato, we just need voters to also know that redistricting occurred because they have different representative districts now, so they shouldn't be surprised if their ballot looks different for them."
Other things to keep in mind, Minnesota lets voters register to vote on Election Day.
According to the Secretary of State's website, if your voter registration is current and active, you do not need to bring identification. This means you were successfully registered at least 21 days before Election Day and you have not moved or changed names since then.
If you need to register or update your registration, or you have not voted in four years or more, you will need to show proof of residence before you vote.
Voters who received an absentee ballot but haven't gotten the chance to mail it out yet will also need to fill out a new one.
"What we encourage people to do in that instance is to either destroy that ballot at home because it won't be counted once they've checked in and voted on Election Day. Or if they would prefer, they can bring it in all of its envelopes to the polling place and give it to the election judge who will then spoil it out for them. They must vote a new ballot on Election Day," said Stalberger.
If voters have already filled out their absentee ballot, it has to be hand-delivered to the election's office, not their polling place, by 3 p.m.
The Secretary of State's website said you can drop off ballots for up to three other voters. You will need to show identification with name and signature when returning a ballot for someone else.
Ballots must be received by Election Day or they will not be counted.
This year, Blue Earth County has two new sites that have never been used as polling places before, including the Caledonia Club and the U.S. Army Reserve building.
Kristy Maes, program and service coordinator with Blue Earth County elections, has been involved in selecting polling sites.
She said several things are taken into account when selecting them.
"We want to make sure we find a place that's known within the community, so people are able to recognize it. Then we also want to make sure the facility that we choose is accessible to all of our voters," she said.
As of Saturday, Blue Earth County has accepted 2,679 absentee ballots.
