More than 1.7M absentee ballots accepted in Minnesota as feds announce election monitors

DOJ to monitor POLLS in Mpls. for first time since 2004

Nov 03, 20200

Renee Jones Schneider – Star Tribune count

Ryan Wagner and Hailie Jadoo got to the point of the line where they could see a distant end in sight after waiting and hour and a half to vote early at the Ramsey County Elections office in St. Paul, Minn., on Monday, Nov. 2, 2020.

Staring down an election without precedent, Minnesota officials entered the final push to ensure voters' ballots could be counted amid a historic surge in mail voting, legal challenges, federal monitors and elevated fears of conflict at polling places.

Secretary of State Steve Simon said Monday that a record 1,716,575 absentee ballots had been returned and accepted as of the morning - 58% of the total turnout for 2016. Another 338,944 requested absentee ballots remained outstanding. The office planned to update those figures late Monday, but was waiting for in-person voters to complete their ballots after early voting sites closed at 5 p.m. Some faced waits of up to three hours.

As voters rushed to return absentee ballots, the U.S. Justice Department announced Monday that federal officials are being sent to monitor for potential elections law violations in Minneapolis as part of an 18-state Election Day operation.

https://www.startribune.com/1-7m-absentee-ballots-returned-in-minn-feds-to-send-monitors/572949792/