Safe & Secure Elections
Nonpartisan Observation of the 2024 Post-Election Review Verifies Accuracy
Based on the observations of 160 trained, nonpartisan observers in 43 of Minnesota’s 87 counties, LWVMN is pleased to report that Minnesota’s elections are transparent, verifiable, and accurate. Read the full report at lwvmn.org/per.
Presidential Electors Certify Our Votes
MN DFL electors cast 10 Electoral College votes for Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz with similar events happening across the nation to elect the next U.S. President.
Recounts Completed, Update on Scott County
The State Canvassing Board adjourns after recounts confirm election results, but what’s happening in Scott County?
Recounts All the Way Down
From statewide federal offices to local school board races, recounts are another election certification safeguard that voters can trust.
State Canvassing Board Confirms Election Results
The State Canvassing Board met and reviewed the results of the 2024 election and Post-Election Reviews. What did they find?
PER Observers Report from 43 Counties!
Post-Election Reviews are now complete. What have our observers seen? Were there any problems? Where do we go from here?
What’s Happening in Scott & Sherburne Counties?
Upcoming recounts in Scott & Sherburne Counties provide a window into how the counting and reporting system works, and errors get corrected.
Nonpartisan Observers are in the Field!
The Post Election Reviews are underway, to audit the election results returned by the tabulators. And LWVMN has 150+ trained nonpartisan observers in nearly half of our counties!
Does Minnesota Audit our Election Results?
Yes! All Minnesota counties will audit the results of their locally-run elections through the Post Election Review. Learn how they are conducted to ensure the integrity of YOUR vote.
Post Election Timeline – Why It Matters
Voting is over. But our elections are not. Check out the timeline and steps to test the accuracy of our elections, manage any discrepancies, and certify the official results.
It’s Official! It’s Unofficial!
As we await election results, the only thing official is that all results are UNofficial as we patiently wait for our election officials to begin the process of certifying the election.
2020 Elections Were Accurate – Proven Facts from Across the Political Spectrum
- Nationally, in the six states where former President Trump challenged the 2020 election results, there were 475 potential instances of fraud out of 25 million votes cast, making 2020 widely acknowledged as secure by both parties and the courts.
- The Brennan Center for Justice does an excellent job of listing government officials, judges and elected leaders, overwhelmingly Republican, who have publicly acknowledged confidence in the November 2020 Election.
- This report, titled “Lost, Not Stolen” was issued by “political conservatives who have spent most of our adult lives working to support the Constitution and the conservative principles upon which it is based: limited government, liberty, equality of opportunity, freedom of religion, a strong national defense, and the rule of law”
- This exhaustive fact check by PBS New Hour is also filled with evidence from across the political spectrum and shows that the 2020 elections were not “stolen”
- A Wisconsin judge ruled in 2022 that a Republican-ordered, taxpayer-funded investigation into the 2020 election found “absolutely no evidence of election fraud” – AP News Article
- Another AP News article from 2022 presents the overwhelming evidence that there were no major problems with drop boxes during the 2020 election.
- Within Minnesota specifically, please refer to the thorough audit done on MN Voter Registration by the Office of the Legislative Auditor, an evaluation requested and approved by the Legislative Audit Commission (LAC), which has equal representation from both the Minnesota House and Senate, and the two major political parties.
- Reporting done by the Minnesota Star Tribune documents the problems of election misinformation occurring here in our State, and how the League of Women Voters is working to combat it – Read the Story
FAQs About MN Election Security
What prevents an undocumented immigrant with a “Drivers License for All” from registering to vote?
A person will only be registered to vote through MN Driver and Vehicle Services if they provide proof of citizenship at the time of obtaining or renewing their Driver’s License. While undocumented immigrants won’t have to prove their citizenship to get a driver’s license, NOT doing so will mean they cannot also register to vote when getting their license. Anyone registering to vote is required to affirm, under penalty of law, that they meet a list of requirements to be eligible to vote in Minnesota, including U.S. citizenship. Undocumented immigrants therefore face both perjury AND deportation if they falsify their identity during the voting process.
What happens if someone dies after voting or requesting an absentee ballot?
Minnesota election officials get regular reports of deceased residents from the MN Department of Health and Social Security Administration, and use these to change voters’ status to “deceased.”
All ballots are tracked by bar codes to ensure they are attached to an active registered voter. Therefore, ballots with barcodes attached to any deceased voters are not counted if not yet accepted. The ballot will be spoiled by the election office and the absentee ballot application marked as inactive.
If the ballot is marked as "accepted" but not separated yet from the signature/secrecy envelope, it must be presented to the ballot board for rejection. In the case that someone votes early and subsequently dies in the 18 days prior to Election Day (when counting begins), that person's vote will be counted if the ballot has been separated from the signature/secrecy envelope.
Can voting machines be hacked?
Voting machines, including ballot recording and tabulating machines, are not connected to the internet during voting, and so cannot be remotely hacked. They also cannot be physically hacked as the memory chips are locked into the machine, and only the head election judge or county clerk have the key for them, and/or can deputize another person to hold the key. Finally, the election results from the tabulating system are printed before the results are electronically transmitted to county elections.
Along with the hardware being secure, and the software unable to be hacked, each memory chip from each tabulator is encrypted with the machine number on it. This means that when the information is pulled from the machines, it is impossible to duplicate the result from any of the machines – the data from one machine is only able to be pulled once. It would also indicate if data from any machine in the precinct is missing.
The only time during the process when the data is connected to any electronic network or the internet in any way is when it is being sent to the county elections or OSS website. In order to keep the data secure, a special encrypted connection is used.
