How the Vote Is Counted and Processed in Stearns County

Election Day is just 4 weeks away and Stearns County Officials sat down with me on WJON to talk about the process and important things voters should know.  Stearns County Auditor/Treasurer Randy Schreifels and Stearns County Director of License Centers and Elections, Laura Laudenbach joined me on WJON.  Laudenbach indicates common questions they get include;  Where is my polling place? What's on my ballot? How can I register?  She says a great resource to answer those questions is mnvotes.org.

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Voting is underway in Stearns County.  In Minnesota we still refer to voting by mail or voting early as absentee voting.  Schreifels indicates some states have changed the terminology.  There are 2 locations in the St. Cloud metro area where voters can vote early in person and that is at the Lake George Municipal Building or Stearns County Service Center near Fleet Farm.  November 4th at 5pm is the last day and time voters can vote early.  Those who requested ballots by mail can drop them off ONLY at the Stearns County Service Center in Waite Park by November 5.

Once absentee ballots are received Schreifels says they undergo a process.  First an absentee board consisting of people representing the 2 major parties start the process of accepting those.  He says if everything is fine the envelope gets opened and everything is separated.  Schreifels explains the items are separated so they never who voted for whom.  When mail-in ballots are sent out the voter must verify their voter ID number which is usually the last 4 digits of their social security number, a driver's license number or ID number.  Laudenbach says there is also a witness signature required.

How do voters prove who they are when voting in person?  Laudenbach indicates for registered voters, already in their system, officials on-site can confirm who they are through name and date of birth.  She says if you are not registered you must prove who you are and where you live which can be done with a state ID or driver's license.  Laudenbach says if your current ID doesn't match where you live you'd need to provide proof or residence.  Only United States citizens can vote.  She says it's a felony if you sign off that you are 18 years of age or older and a U.S. citizen and prove not to be.  Laudenbach says there is no way to vote twice because each vote is linked to a voter.

Schreifels says dead people cannot vote.  They get updates from the Minnesota Department of Health daily on the status of registered voters.  He says a case where it could happen is if someone were to vote absentee and the ballot came in and was accepted and the person died prior to election day.

All of the votes in Stearns County are counted by tabulators.  Schreifels says the tabulator is a DS-200 machine.  It is the machine you put your ballot into prior to receiving the sticker.  Schreifels says if you overvoted or undervoted the machine will identify that immediately.  Laudenbach indicates if an overvote alert is given the person will have a chance to fill out a new ballot.  In the case of an undervote the voter can choose to adjust that and resubmit their ballot.  Laudenbach says the entire ballot wouldn't be thrown out but, in the case of an overvote, the selected race wouldn't be counted.

Schreifels says it is very important to fill in the ovals because that is how ballots are read.  He says machines are more accurate than counting the votes by hand.  Recounts are done by hand either when races are extremely close or it is requested in a close race by a candidate.  All ballots must be brought to the Stearns County Election headquarters in St. Cloud for counting on election night.  All voters in line prior to 8pm on election day are allowed to vote.

If you'd like to listen to my conversation with Randy Schreifels and Laura Laudenbach, it is available below.