It’s the day before the general election, and nearly 1.2 million Minnesotans have already voted, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.

As of Monday morning, 1,174,224 absentee and mail-in ballots had been accepted since voting opened on Sept. 20.

Minnesota’s early voting figures so far amount to a little more than one-third of the the final turnout for the 2020 presidential election, when 3,277,171 residents voted. That year, absentee voting accounted for 1.9 million of that total, driven in large part by the COVID-19 pandemic.

As of Sunday, about 30% of registered voters in Minneapolis had returned their ballots, which election officials say surpassed early voting turnout in non-COVID years.

Some credit a new requirement to have voting locations open in every county in the state on the two weekends leading up to Election Day.

In Washington County, the absentee ballots are pouring in. Election workers are already opening them and starting to process them, but the results won’t be tabulated until after the polls close Tuesday night.

This comes as even more voters lined up for the last day of early voting on Monday — the wait in line at the Washington County Government Center was over an hour long. 

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

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

Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon says there were still 150,000 outstanding absentee ballots Monday. It’s too late to mail them by now, but absentee voters still have in-person delivery and voting options on Election Day. 

For those who have yet to vote, polling places will be open statewide from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday. 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS has compiled an Election Guide with tips on how to check your registration status, find your polling place and see what’s on your ballot.