By Logan Wells, News Director | Logan@kymnradio.net
Today is election day in America, and as millions of people across the country go to the polls to vote, the outcome will have an incredible impact on the national, state, and local levels.
A Northfield voter’s ballot includes the President of the United States, a US Senate Seat, a US House Seat, a Minnesota State House seat, the mayor of Northfield, multiple Northfield City Council seats, four seats on the Northfield School Board, the High School Renovation Referendum, the Rice County Board of Commissioners and Sales Tax Referendum, the Soil and Water Conservation District, and several state Judges.
Polling Hours & Locations
Polls in Minnesota are open today from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. If you are in line when polls close at 8 p.m., you can still cast your ballot. In Northfield, your polling location is based on your Ward and Precinct. Map of Northfield Wards & Precincts.
| Precinct | Polling Location |
|---|---|
| Northfield Ward 1-Precinct 1 | First United Church of Christ, 300 Union Street South |
| Northfield Ward 1-Precinct 2 | St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, 418 Sumner Street East |
| Northfield Ward 2-Precinct 1 | United Methodist Church, 1401 Maple Street South |
| Northfield Ward 2-Precinct 2 | Northfield Community Resource Center, 1651 Jefferson Parkway |
| Northfield Ward 3-Precinct 1 | Emmaus Baptist Church, 712 Linden Street North |
| Northfield Ward 3-Precinct 2 | Bethel Lutheran Church, 1321 North Avenue |
| Northfield Ward 4-Precinct 1 | St. John’s Lutheran Church, 500 Third Street West |
| Northfield Ward 4-Precinct 2 | St. Olaf College Buntrock Commons, 1521 Campus Drive |
| City of Dundas | Dundas City Hall, 100 Railway Street North |
Most townships will have their polling place at their townhall. If you have questions about where you go to vote, visit: https://pollfinder.sos.mn.gov/
Make sure you now the polling place rules before you go, including not to wear political attire https://www.sos.mn.gov/elections-voting/election-day-voting/polling-place-rules/
Learn about your rights as a voter: https://www.sos.mn.gov/elections-voting/election-day-voting/know-your-rights/
Early Votes Cast
Early voting has been a popular option for many Americans this year. According to the New York Times, as of midday Monday, 76 million people had voted early nationwide, and in Minnesota, 989,000 people had voted early. For context, in the 2020 Presidential Election, approximately 155 million votes were cast in total.
In Northfield, voting early at City Hall has been a popular option for many. Early voting at City Hall became available on September 20th. Between September 20th and October 18th, 1,600 votes were cast early. From October 18th, until Noon on Sunday, 2,500 ballots were cast at city hall in total, which means approximately 4,100 ballots were cast early. Of the votes cast at city hall the vast majority have been from Northfield residents but a portion have included residents of Dundas or other parts of Rice County. This total does not include any votes from Rice County residents cast early by mail or at the Rice County Government Services Building. For context in previous elections in Northfield, around 10,000 – 11,000 votes are cast each year.
If you still have an absentee ballot, it is too late to mail it in. Instead, Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon advises
“You can always hand deliver it to that election office where it may be and in some cases, you can also have someone you know and trust, a spouse, a friend, a roommate, a neighbor, hand deliver it for you.” – Audio from the Minnesota News Network (If you need to return a mail in ballot learn more here)
MN’s Top Election Official Meets With Rice County Elections Staff
Simon has also been working with county election workers to make sure they are ready: “I want to validate the work you do,” he said to Rice County election officials, adding that his goal is to have an election high in energy but low in drama.
During his stop in Faribault last week, he asked several questions of elections officials, staff, and a handful of the county’s elections judges, ensuring they understood his office’s staff was always available should questions arise.
Internal and external security protocols have been reviewed with Elections, Sheriff’s Office, and IT staff, Elections Director Denise Anderson said, adding that a required
public accuracy test of voting equipment went smoothly.
In the last year, the county’s Elections Department office has been remodeled and expanded to ensure completed ballots and elections equipment remain in the restricted
area. The absentee voting area was enlarged to help guarantee voter privacy and staff safety.
When asked about how voters can have confidence in the security of the election Simon reminded them that all equipment is tested beforehand and paper receipts are kept of all the vote counts.
If this is the first time voting in an election or you simply need more information about where to vote, your rights as a voter, or any other information, head to the election guide for yesterday’s Election Explainer about all of that and for links to the Secretary of State’s website to learn more.
KYMN’s Coverage
Today, KYMN will talk with several election experts. At 7:20 a.m., we will discuss how the ballots are counted with the Director of Elections for Dakota County Michelle Blue. At 8:40 a.m., we will discuss the national elections with Megan Goldberg, a Professor of American Politics at Cornell College. Both of those interviews will be available on our website as podcasts.
Tonight, KYMN will be covering the local election results on our website. Starting at 7pm, we will have a live blog with headlines and results nationwide. Additionally, the Minnesota News Network will provide regular updates and analyses with in-studio guest Hamline University Professor David Schultz and reporters at campaign parties across the state. We will be posting those reports on the live blog as well. After 8pm, when polls close, we will have live results tables that will update as results come in.
In the coming days we have some of the candidates in the studio to hear the statements on the election and tomorrow morning we will have all the results in our on-air newscast as well.
