REGIONAL- Voting is underway for the 2024 general election, and St. Louis County Supervisor of Elections Phil Chapman told the Timberjay on Tuesday that voter interest is strong.
“It’s going well. We’ve had pretty good turnout with people voting by absentee ballot, both walk-in and by mail,” Chapman said. “We have 17 deputies that do their own absentee balloting, and I actually had a chance to touch base with most of them yesterday, and the voter turnout so far has probably been a little higher than what we expected for people voting absentee. The general feel is that people are voting earlier compared to previous elections.”
Voters can request an absentee ballot up until Monday, Nov. 4, the day before the election, but Chapman cautioned that the deadline for returning those ballots is 8 p.m. on Nov. 5, which could cause difficulties for late requesters.
“If someone requests an absentee ballot when we’re a week out, we will contact that voter and tell them we’re a week away, we can send you your materials, but you might not get it in time to get it back to us,” Chapman said.
While voters going to the polls will have the same experience as in other recent elections, systems still have to be tested, and that process has already started.
“We do a preliminary test on our ballots,” Chapman said. “We’ve done that test and everything looks great. The county has a public accuracy test and we’ll be doing that on Thursday – that’s for our unorganized precincts. Testing our absentee ballot counters and local jurisdiction public accuracy testing is going to start probably within this week.”
Some polling places in other parts of the country have had security issues in prior elections, but Chapman said at the moment he’s not aware of any issues that might affect St. Louis County.
“St. Louis County has been pretty good compared to some of the situations we’ve seen in other states and counties,” Chapman said. “But we are in constant communication with the Secretary of State, FBI, and law enforcement, just keeping that open line of communication and monitoring things to make sure that we’re on top of it.
In June, the Republican National Committee launched an initiative to mobilize thousands of polling place “monitors,” mostly in swing states, a move prompted by the false claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 propagated by presidential candidate Donald Trump. Critics of the initiative claim the GOP effort is really aimed at voter intimidation. In Minnesota, however, state law has provisions that would reduce the impact of such surveillance here.
Only election officials, individuals who are waiting to register or to vote, or someone conducting exit polling are allowed within 100 feet of a building in which a polling place is located. Voters must be allowed to pass without unlawful interference. There are additional restrictions covering who can be inside a polling place while the vote is being conducted.
However, once the polls close, the rules change.
“After the polling is over, it’s open to the public,” Chapman said. “The public can go in to monitor or watch the tabulation and the judges balancing and filling out their summary statements. But even though they’re allowed to be at the polling place to observe the process, they can’t interfere with or intimidate the judges. But during the day, it’s restricted – you can’t just go into a polling place and observe. That’s not allowed.”
Those who need to register to vote should be aware that next Tuesday, Oct. 15 is the last day to register to have one’s name appear in the official voter roll at the polls. Voters may register up to and including Election Day. Chapman recommended using the mnvote.org website to register ahead of time and added that the site includes a list of required documents a voter needs to bring to their polling place to register on Election Day.
Chapman had a message for county voters.
“My message would be to encourage people to get out and vote, regardless of the method they choose to vote,” Chapman said. “I think it’s important that people get out and make their voices heard. Absentee or polling place, it makes no difference. Just get out and vote to get your voice heard.”