Nearly 1.2 million Minnesotans voted during early voting

It's the day before the general election, and nearly 1.2 million Minnesotans have already cast their ballots, according to the State Department.

As of Monday morning, 1,174,224 absentee and absentee ballots had been accepted since voting began on September 20th.

Minnesota's early voter turnout so far is just over a third of the final turnout for the 2020 presidential election, in which 3,277,171 residents cast a ballot. This year, 1.9 million people voted by mail, in large part due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As of Sunday, about 30% of registered voters in Minneapolis had returned their ballots, exceeding early voter turnout in non-COVID years, according to election officials.

Some include a new requirement to have polls open in every county in the state on the two weekends before Election Day.

Mail-in ballots are pouring in in Washington County. Election workers are already opening them and starting processing, but the results will not be tabulated until after the polls close on Tuesday evening.

This comes as even more voters lined up for the final day of early voting on Monday – the line at the Washington County Government Center lasted over an hour.

Amy Stenftenagel of Washington County Elections says she predicts voter turnout in her county will reach 40% by the end of Monday.

“People are coming to the door early to vote. We don’t care how you vote, as long as you vote,” she said.

Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon said 150,000 mail-in ballots were still outstanding as of Monday. It is now too late to send them by mail, but postal voters still have the opportunity to drop them off in person and vote on Election Day.

For those who have not yet voted, polls will be open statewide on Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS has put together a voting guide with tips on how to check your registration status, find your polling place and see what's on your ballot.