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The early voting activity at the Chisago County Government Center switched over to “direct” balloting.  This means early ‘absentee’ votes from now until just before Election Day,  will be entered into and  counted in a physical election machine. The hundreds of local paper ballots cast before Friday were sealed and retained in a secure space and these were to go to the Absentee Ballot Board for day-of tallies, explained Chisago County Auditor-Treasurer Bridgitte Konrad.

 The county has been seeing 100 to 200   early voters daily since early voting opened September 20. Mailed ballots are in addition to this figure.  

November 5 when local precinct polling places open their doors, voters will participate at their polling site.   (For remaining extended hours to accommodate early voters at the Government Center in Center City see chisagocountymn.gov for details.)

Konrad guessed there are multiple factors contributing to the popularity of absentee balloting, adding that  having remote, early voting during the pandemic introduced a lot of voters to this option and they are just choosing to continue with it.

In discussion at a recent meeting, about the elections Chisago County Board of Commissioners Chair Marlys Dunne remarked on a personal tour and explanation of the ballot counting process and stated she is completely confident in the system and convinced of the “top notch” security and reliability of the count.

You can track your absentee ballot, locate your polling place and see a sample ballot for your area at the state elections website, based on your address.

Meanwhile, a resignation by a staff member at North Branch city hall is somewhat impacting the flow of the county auditor’s office work.  Konrad confirmed that acting interim North Branch city administrator, Linda Woulfe,  is embracing some unanticipated local election training and picking up  duties that North Branch’s elections official Ragini Varma held,  before Varma’s departure. New fulltime city administrator Matthew Hill has been hired but won’t start until after the election.  North Branch has multiple precincts and traditionally posts the largest elections tallies in the county.

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