Scroll down to the bottom of this post for sample common primary ballot (copied from Minnesota Secretary of State website.)
Go to https://www.sos.mn.gov/elections-voting/
Log on to the MN Secretary of State website to double check YOUR actual August 11th primary ballot. Minnesota House and Minnesota Senate elections do not follow county or city lines. U.S. Congressional Districts do not follow county or city lines. When you type in your address, you’ll find your polling place.
Check your local government for information about where and when to vote on August 11th or how to vote absentee. If you are not 100% certain where you’ll be on Tuesday, August 11th, consider voting by mail or voting absentee. There are several close party races on August 11th, because some individuals are challenging the GOP and DFL endorsed candidates. Your vote could be the deciding vote. Scroll down to find out who the (major) party endorsed candidates are.
We are not going to post instructions here on how to vote by mail or absentee ballot. You need to contact your local election officials.
Does your local government really encourage voting and voter education?
Our democracy exists because most people continue to vote. Don’t let others decide for you.
Chances are, if you’re reading this, you yourself educate others about voting and candidates. Shouldn’t your local government educate others too and in a objective nonpartisan way? Government websites can discourage voting by posting insufficient, misleading and outdated information.
Why aren’t government officials doing more on their websites to highlight the August 11th primary elections? How to vote in person, by mail or absentee? Post sample ballots? Run for office? Or at the very minimum, provide links to important information?
If you don’t like what you see on the websites, contact them (your local government). When you look over these different websites, think about how helpful – or not – they are to folks who just moved to the area. How quick and easy is it for you/them to find info about registering, actually voting, and look at a sample ballot?
There might be additional items on the ballot that were not adequately covered in local media. Especially on primary ballots where/when folks could vote on issues, judges, etc. that don’t appear on the November ballot. Don’t be surprised and uninformed when you walk in to vote! Double check.
None of these local government websites mentions school board elections. It appears they also do not have easily spotted links to public school districts or private schools located within the city or township.
Babbitt
On the City of Babbitt website, you have to scroll down the home page for election information. You then click the links to go directly to MN Sec of State or St. Louis County websites. Everything is computerized and “linked out.” No small town touch.
No reference to sample ballots.
Fall Lake Township
On the Fall Lake Township home webpage, scroll down to find upcoming calendar events. “Primary Elections” is posted for August 11th, but there are no explanations or links for additional info.
Click on Elections on home page menu. You see a pasted 2-page copy of an election judge interest form with a link to the same form on MN Sec of State website.
Sadly, there are no links or detailed information about registering, voting or sample ballots.
There is no telephone number listed for Fall Lake Township. Not on the home page or Contact page. Fill out a form or email.
If you click REPRESENTATIVES on the home page, you get a photo and names. No phone numbers for anyone. And no direct email contact addresses.
There is no information or links to register, vote or view a sample ballot.
Morse Township
Menu bar at the top right corner and contact info on the bottom of the home page https://www.morsemnslc.gov/
Click Government on the Town of Morse home page.
In the Town of Morse, their next primary and general elections will be held in 2020.
There appears to be no reference to an August 11th primary election on any of the Town of Morse webpages.
There is no reference to sample ballots.
Ely
To find Ely election info, look the right-to-left scrolling Elections icon on the home page. Or pull down the menu for Government at the top of the homepage.
The City of Ely has extensive information about registering and voting. And links!
What’s missing is a link to sample ballots.
Sample ballots on MN Secretary of State website
https://www.sos.mn.gov/elections-voting/
If you get an error message when you type in your address, use or do not use abbreviations.
For example, maybe type Rd instead of Road or type out North instead of N.
Please log on to the MN Secretary of State to double check YOUR actual ballot. Minnesota House and Minnesota Senate elections do not follow county or city lines. U.S. Congressional Districts do not follow county or city lines. Not all candidates running for all the offices are on the primary ballots. If there is no contest then
Who’s the endorsed GOP or DFL Candidate?
Get info about the candidates from the candidates
If you cannot find a candidate’s website after searching on the internet, look for their contact information on the MN Secretary of State’s webpage https://candidates.sos.mn.gov/
To find who’s running for MN governor, secretary of state, etc, selecr “State Executive Offices.” There are other options if you wish to narrow your search.
Click on candidate’s name or website to get more information directly from the candidate. It is up to you to email or call them.
Notice there are indeed 3rd party candidates. It appears nobody in the Green, Independent, Libertarian, or Forward Independence is challenging their endorsed candidates for these races, so they don’t appear on the August 11th primary ballot. They advance to the November 3rd general election.
Select “Federal Offices” for candidates who have filed for U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives.
U.S. SENATE There is no incumbent. This is an open seat. U.S. Senator Tina Smith decided not to run for re-election. DFL endorsed candidate Peggy Flanagan is facing a heavy challenge from Angie Craig who decided to bypass the DFL endorsement convention. YOU will decide the outcome. Research before voting.
U.S. HOUSE There are 8 U.S. Congressional Districts in MN. Scroll down to find CD 8. The DFL endorsed candidate Trina Swanson needs your vote to challenge Pete Stauber. Please also consider donating, volunteering, and getting everyone around you to vote for her on August 11th.
Select “State Senate Offices” for candidates who filed for MN Senator. Grant Hauschild is the incumbent. GOP candidate Andrea Zupancich is again challenging him. This will be close race. The GOP will be pouring money into this race, as they are afraid of Grant Hauschild’s energy, leadership skills, and ability to get things done. Seriously. There is no internal party challenges for a primary, so this office will be on the Nov. general ballot.
Select “State Representative Offices” for candidates who filed for MN House. Scroll down to 3A and 3B. Since there are no challenges within their parties, you won’t see these offices on the August 11th primary ballot. The incumbents are GOP and running for re-election. Both 3A and 3B were extremely close races. What happened? Low voter turnout. YOU will decide the outcome in November. Consider volunteering & donating!
What do YOU know about Minnesota judges & our judicial system?
Take the challenge!
Click on “Judicial Offices.” Do you know which District you’re in? Whom do contact to find out?
Which candidates are incumbents? Why are there challenges (a race, competition)? Why are there so few challenges?
Check back closer to November to see if we posted more info (answers). No promises.
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