MINNEAPOLIS — After enduring months of bitter and polarizing political campaigning, Minnesotans eager for the finish line with next month’s election may have to wait just a few days more.

The coronavirus pandemic that has upended every corner of American life this year may mean delays in election results, too. Minnesotans are voting absentee in record numbers this year — more than 1.6 million had requested ballots through Friday — and a court has approved the counting of properly postmarked ballots for up to a week after Election Day.

That means winners in some races may not be be declared for days.

The unusual circumstances of this year’s election, along with frequent questions raised by President Donald Trump about voter fraud, have state election officials working overtime to assure the public that the state’s voting system can be trusted.

“When citizens see, on election night, that we don’t have 100% of the results in, it is literally by design,” Simon told reporters recently. “It’s not evidence that anyone is hiding or concealing or rigging or stealing. It’s evidence of the actual plan.”

Counting the vote

When Minnesota’s polls close at 8 p.m. on Election Day, elections officials will begin tabulating all of the in-person and absentee ballots they have in hand, as usual.

But this year, the state will continue to accept and count absentee ballots through Nov. 10, as long as they are postmarked on or before Election Day.

During that seven-day extension, new results will come in as counties provide daily reports on how many absentee ballots they have received and how many they have processed.

Simon is warning there may be no “instant gratification” in knowing some race winners on election night.

Processing

absentee ballots

The state knows who has requested absentee ballots and who has returned them, and there are safeguards in place to prevent ballot tampering and fraud.

Unlike other states that automatically send ballots to every voter, or states that rely only on signatures, Minnesotans who want to vote absentee must request a ballot, and they must provide either a driver’s license number or Social Security number as a primary means of identification.

When voters mail back their ballots, they must provide that same identifying information, to make sure it matches.

Voters can track their own ballots online, including looking up whether their ballot was received and accepted by their local elections office.