Minnesota election officials have set out their plans ahead of the state's primary, in a briefing covering how people can take part and the protections built into the process. According to the report, the Secretary of State's office said the primary will take place on August 11th, with early voting due to start the following day, and pointed voters to a one-stop information portal for the details they need.
Officials walked through the practical side of casting a ballot. According to the report, polls will be open for 13 hours, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., and anyone still in line at 8 p.m. can vote, while the state's voter information portal at mnvotes.gov allows people to view a sample ballot and find their polling place, with staff also available to answer questions by phone and text.
Much of the briefing focused on the safeguards around the count. According to the report, the state uses only paper ballots, which are counted by equipment known as tabulators that must first be tested by federally accredited labs and then certified again by the office, and are tested once more before every single election by local officials.
The officials also described the people and checks behind the system. According to the report, local officials hire and train more than 30,000 workers to serve as election judges, who take an oath to act fairly and impartially, while a statewide system tracks registrations, ballot requests and returns to ensure only eligible people vote and that they cast just one ballot, with results double checked through canvassing and hand count audits.
On security, the office struck a more pointed note. According to the report, the election security navigator, Bill Ekblad, who has held the role since 2019, said that since 2016 foreign adversaries have attempted to access election systems by cyber means, and that the partnership with the federal government has changed in recent years due to what he described as the withdrawal of its services and support to states, while acknowledging public concern about federal attempts at election interference.
The Secretary of State also used the briefing to caution against documentary proof of citizenship requirements for registering to vote. According to the report, he noted that around 69 million American women have a different surname than the one they were born with and that, in Minnesota, only 13% of driver's license holders carry the enhanced version that proves citizenship, before citing Kansas, where he said 31,000 eligible voters were shut out under such a law before a federal judge blocked it.