Are people voting earlier with the option of mail-in and absentee balloting?
Houston County Auditor/Treasurer Polly Heberlein shared, “At this point, I can tell you that absentee voting is becoming more popular. I do not have any definite numbers relating to vote-in-advance versus Election Day. When trying to compare, scenarios are so different now than there were in 2020.”
Heberlein continued, “In 2020 State General Election, (Presential) held during COVID we had 5,218 Houston County voters, vote by Absentee and Mail Ballot. In 2022 State General Election (non-presidential) we had 938 Absentee Voters. So far, in 2024 State General Election (Presidential) we’ve had requests for about 875 Absentee Ballots that have already been mailed out or had those voters vote in person at the Courthouse – of those 875 ballots, 250 have been returned to the County to be processed.”
In Fillmore County, Auditor-Treasurer Heather Broadwater shared her observation. “I would say, no. Unfortunately, 2020 was a unique year, so this election really can’t be compared to that. As for the absentee ballots specifically, it has been average so far.”
According to data made available by the Minnesota Secretary of State, Minnesotans show up big for general elections. In the 2020 general election, Minnesota boasted 80% voter turnout, higher than any other state in the United States. Oklahoma came in as the lowest voter turnout with only 55%.
Regarding absentee ballots, Broadwater indicated that she has “heard speculation that the anticipation is to be normal, which is around 25% across the state.”
For readers who want to dig a little deeper into historical voter turnout data, please visit https://www.sos.state.mn.us/election-administration-campaigns/data-maps/historical-voter-turnout-statistics/.