Ballots arrive at courthouse

A record number of absentee ballots will be issued in Rock County if the first three weeks of absentee voting is any indication.
As of noon Monday, 116 absentee ballots have been issued since the voting option opened Sept. 23, according to Rock County Auditor-Treasurer Ashley Kurtz.
Her office has also added 75 new voters and updated 71 voter registration records.
“We’ve never been this busy this early,” she said.
There are three weeks left before the general election.
In the 2014 general election, 260 people from Rock County voted absentee.
Kurtz speculated this year’s presidential election has drawn voters’ attention earlier than normal along with the state’s easier absentee balloting process.
The state’s no-excuse voting reform began two years ago. It allows any eligible voter to request an absentee ballot, which must be returned to the local auditor’s office on or before Nov. 8.
Voters who requested absentee ballots must have them returned to the auditor/treasurer’s office by 3 p.m. on Election Day. Voters who received mail ballots have until 8 p.m. on Election Day to submit them at the auditor/treasurer’s office.
Ballots not received either in person or in the mail after that date will not be counted. Postmarked ballots arriving after Nov. 8 would also not count.
A deadline reminder of will be included in each of the mail ballots going out in Rock County late this week.
During the August primary election 40 mail ballots arrived at the Rock County Courthouse after the election deadline and were not included in the election results.
A tie resulted in the District 3 Commissioners race, which was broken in a card draw.
Voters can check the status of their ballot at mnvotes.org.
Each ballot is assigned a unique number, Kurtz said. When that ballot is returned to the auditor’s office, it is marked as being received.
Then the absentee ballot board, consisting of the auditor-treasurer’s office staff, looks through every ballot.
Following guidelines from the state, they decide if the ballot should be marked as accepted or rejected. Once accepted, the ballot is scanned again, updating it from a received status to an accepted status.
If the board rejects a ballot, they will contact the voter to resolve the issue so the ballot can be accepted. The most common reason for rejection is the lack of a witness signature.
The last day for voter registration online is Tuesday, Oct. 18.
Voters can also register in person either at the auditor/treasurer’s office before Election Day or at their polling place on Election Day, Nov. 8, when they vote. Eligible residents can vote absentee at the auditor/treasurer’s office through Nov. 7.