State reports over 1.2 million absentee, mail-in ballots accepted as of Tuesday morning

As those who prefer to cast their vote on Election Day head to the polls – with some of them under the watchful eye of a bald eagle, such as one polling place in West St. Paul – state officials say more than 1.2 million people have had their absentee and mail ballots accepted.

When the polling location at the West St. Paul Municipal Center opened at 7 a.m., a 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS team saw a bald eagle perched on a tower, a fitting sign for the day of the 2024 general election.

While thousands more flocked to the polls on Tuesday, Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon reported as of 9 a.m., 1,271,636 people had had their absentee and mail-in ballots accepted so far.

A graph showing the number of absentee and mail ballots accepted by the state by the date of Simon’s updates can be found at the bottom of this article.

Simon’s office says roughly 128,000 ballots have yet to be returned in order to count for this election and must be received by 8 p.m. on Election Day. You can choose to vote at your local polling place instead of returning an absentee ballot.

The state says 1,441,898 absentee and mail ballots have been distributed by local election officials since September 20.

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