Early voting now underway for Nov. 4 election

Early voting is now underway for the Nov. 4 Municipal Election. Ballots may be cast early by mail or in person at the Early Vote Center, 980 East Hennepin Ave.

Early voting began on Friday, September 19 with the City mailing out 12,640 requested mail-in ballots to Minneapolis voters - a record for a municipal election. An additional 351 people voted at the Early Vote Center on the first day. The last municipal election in 2021 had 3,736 ballot requests mailed out on the first day of early voting, and 17,995 requests throughout the election cycle. That means this year's election has already had more than half of the mail-in ballot requests of all 2021.

Voters who applied should allow up to 7 days for the ballot to arrive and plan an equal number of days in terms of returning the completed ballot.

All mail ballots need to be received by Election Day (Nov. 4) for them to count.

IMPORTANT: A 2025 legislative change requires mail ballots that are dropped off in-person to be returned to the Elections & Voter Services office by 5 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 4. Mail ballots cannot be dropped off at polling places on Election Day.

More information on how to vote by mail is available at vote.minneapolismn.gov/voters/bymail.

Voting at the Early Vote Center

The Early Vote Center, 980 E. Hennepin Ave., makes early in-person voting more convenient for Minneapolis voters. It's especially helpful to people who need language support or other special accommodations, such as curbside voting.

The Early Vote Center's hours are 8 a.m.- 4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday and is open now through 5:00 p.m. on Monday, November 3. There are planned pop-up sites and extended hours in the final two weeks, which includes weekend in-person service hours. All Early Vote Center hours are on the Elections & Voter Services website: vote.minneapolismn.gov/voters/vote-early-in-person.

Voters can save time by taking these two steps

1. Make sure you're registered to vote, or pre-register at least 21 days before the election. Voters can register or check the status of their registrations at vote.minneapolismn.gov/voters/register.
2. Look at a sample ballot ahead of time; even bring it to refer to when you go to vote. Find your sample ballot at vote.minneapolismn.gov/voters/ballot.

State law allows voters to bring materials into the polls to help complete their ballots - and the sample ballot is the single, best tool available for this purpose. By downloading and printing their sample ballots (which are customized to their specific ward and precinct), voters can practice marking their ballots. They can bring this marked-up sample ballot as a reference to the voting booth when completing their official ballots. This is the best way to reduce the time spent waiting in line.