Absentee and early voting

Apply, receive, and return a ballot by mail.

Application is required in Minnesota.

Application process

Apply online

• If you can’t apply online, print and complete an absentee ballot application (PDF, 1MB).
• Email it to hc.vote@hennepin.us or return it by mail or FAX at 612-348-2151.  

When ballots are mailed

We start mailing ballots 46 days before each election.

Track your ballot

Confirm your ballot was received and counted on the state’s ballot tracker. 

Return deadline

Ballots must be received by 8 p.m. election day.

Return by mail

Mail your ballot back in the pre-paid, pre-addressed envelope you received.

Use express delivery if you don't think your ballot will be received in time with regular mail service.

Return in person or drop-off

You can drop off your ballot and the ballots for up to 3 voters.

Return voted ballots in person to either Hennepin County Elections, or your local elections office.

Accessible or electronic ballots

If needed, we can provide an accessible or electronic ballot.

Absentee voting is open 46 days before each election.

You can register when you vote early if you show proof of residence.

On Election Day, you must vote at your polling place. 

Hennepin County residents may vote at their designated city absentee voting office or at the skyway level of the Hennepin County Government center. 

Get help voting

You can bring someone to help, ask election staff, use a machine to help you mark your ballot or vote from your car.

Get help voting

Voter assistance State of Minnesota (PDF)

Ballots can be issued by mail, fax or email.

Your voted ballot must be returned by mail no matter how you received it.

A spouse, parent, sibling or child over 18, can apply for you.

If you are abroad indefinitely with no plans to return to Minnesota, you will only vote for federal offices.

Eligibility

• Military members serving outside their home precinct.
• Citizens living abroad temporarily or indefinitely.
• Spouses and dependents of military members.

Military members include: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Merchant Marine, Commissioned corps of the Public Health Service, Commissioned corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Minnesotans enrolled as students at a U.S. Service Academy.

Help

Military members should contact their voting assistance officer (VAO).

Overseas citizens should contact the U.S. embassy or consulate.

Application process 

• Re-apply annually and after a change of mailing address.
• Your ballot application is also a voter registration application.
• You'll automatically receive a ballot for any election you're eligible to vote in through December 31 of the year you apply, or through the next election held in November of an even-number year, whichever is later.

Apply online

If you can't apply online, print, complete and return the federal postcard application (PDF, 1MB) by email to ts.vote.uocava@hennepin.us.

If you can’t email it, then mail, FAX or drop it off in person to Hennepin County Elections. 

When ballots are issued

We start mailing ballots 46 days before Election Day.

If you aren't in the continental U.S. and requested a mailed ballot, it will be sent by airmail.

To get your mailed ballot faster, provide a prepaid express delivery envelope.

Track your ballot

Confirm your ballot was received and counted using the state’s ballot tracker.

For federal elections, if you haven't received your ballot or you don't think it will reach us by election day, you may submit a federal write-in absentee ballot (PDF, 1MB). 

Return

Your voted ballot must be returned by mail no matter how you received it. 

Ballots must be received by 8 p.m. on election day.

Use an express delivery service if you don't think your ballot will be received in time with regular mail service.

In special situations, you may ask someone to pick up a ballot for you. Someone may also return your voted ballot for you.

Eligibility

You can vote by agent if you are a:

• Patient in a hospital, residential treatment center, or nursing home
• Resident of
  • A group home
  • A battered women's shelter
  • An assisted living facility
• Voter with disability or other incapacitating health issue

Process

You can assign an agent starting 7 days before Election Day. 

1. Choose someone who:

• You have a pre-existing relationship with
• Is at least 18 years old
• Isn’t a candidate in the election
• Hasn’t already been an agent of more than 3 other voters

2. Complete both the:

• Request for agent delivery of absentee ballot form (PDF, 1MB), and
• Absentee ballot application (PDF, 1MB)

3. Have your agent bring the completed forms to your local elections office.

4. Your agent will be given your ballot to bring to you.

5. Vote your ballot.

6. Have your agent return your voted ballot to the office they picked it up at.

• Your agent must show an ID with name and signature.
• Voted ballots must be returned by 8 p.m. on Election Day.

Accessible or electronic ballots

If needed, we can provide an accessible or electronic ballot.

You may be eligible for a ballot with only the president and vice-president if don't meet residency requirements in Minnesota or another state.

Moved from Minnesota

If you're a former Hennepin County resident who's moved to another state in the 30 days before an election, and aren't eligible to vote in your new state, you can apply for this ballot.

Apply

Complete the presidential-only application (PDF, 1MB).

• Submit the application by mail or in person to the address on it.
• If you submit application by mail, we'll mail your ballot.
• Return your ballot by 8 p.m. on Election Day.

Moved to Minnesota

You're not eligible to vote in Minnesota if you've moved from another state into Minnesota within 20 days of the election.

Who can vote in Minnesota.

Contact your previous state’s secretary of state’s elections office for options.

Get help

Call 612-348-5151 or email hc.vote@hennepin.us.