As Early Voting opens, many Minnesotans have already cast their ballots for the 2026 midterm election.
The Minnesota Secretary of State’s office reported Friday, Oct. 16, the office accepted 202,252 ballots in the first four weeks of absentee voting by mail or in person. This marks a 17% increase from votes cast in the first four weeks of the 2022 midterms.
Absentee voting began Sept. 18.
Friday also marked the opening of Early Voting, a voting method introduced in Minnesota this year.
The method is slightly different from absentee in-person voting. In the absentee method, a voter fills out a special ballot that goes into an envelope to be reviewed by a ballot board at a later time.
By contrast, Early Voting allows a voter to cast their ballot directly into a ballot counter and use a traditional ballot. The Secretary of State’s office notes the method is “similar to voting in a polling place on Election Day” but begins 18 days before the election.
Every county has at least one Early Voting location. A full list of locations is available at the secretary of state’s office website.
In another statement Friday, Secretary of State’s office announced it had received suspicious mail that included a threatening letter and unidentified white powder. The office stated the mail is now being tested by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
Election offices in several other states have received similar mailings.
Secretary of State Steve Simon said in the statement threats toward election workers were “unacceptable and should not be tolerated.”
“Our office will not be deterred and will continue to support the thousands of election officials across the state as they administer elections to their communities.”
Election Day for the 2026 midterms is Nov. 3.
