Southwest Metro voters walk into an early voting site on a bright autumn day, passing a 'Vote Here' sign with an upward-pointing arrow

If you live in Chanhassen and want to vote early, you’re driving to Chaska. If you live in Savage, you’re driving to Jordan. If you live in Eden Prairie, you can walk into City Center today. And if you live in Waconia, your city hall will open for voting in about four weeks.

Same election. Same state law. Four different experiences.

That tells you something about how Minnesota elections actually work, and it determines what “voting early” means for you this fall.

First, the basics

Absentee voting for the Nov. 3 general election opened Friday, Sept. 18, and runs through Monday, Nov. 2. Any eligible Minnesota voter can vote early, for any reason, in person or by mail.

But there’s a wrinkle this year that you may not have noticed. “Voting early” now comes in two flavors, and they open on different dates.

Starting Sept. 18: In-person absentee. You fill out an absentee application (you’ll need your Minnesota driver’s license or ID number, or the last four digits of your Social Security number), vote your ballot on the spot, put it in your sealed envelope, and hand it back. A ballot board reviews it later. Functionally, it’s a mail ballot without the mail.

Starting Oct. 16: Early In-Person Voting. This is new in 2026, according to the Secretary of State. You sign a short certificate, get a ballot, and feed it into the ballot counter yourself, exactly like on Election Day. As Bloomington’s election office explains it, voters get to watch their ballot get tabulated and find out right away if the machine catches an error.

So which should you do? If you want it done, go now. If you want the satisfaction (and the error check) of seeing your ballot go through the machine, wait until Oct. 16. Either way, your vote counts the same.

The second date matters for another reason: It’s when a lot of city halls open their doors.

Why the map looks like a patchwork

Minnesota doesn’t run elections from St. Paul. Secretary of State Steve Simon put it plainly at a Clean Elections Minnesota forum in January: His office publishes what townships, cities and counties count; it never touches ballots. It’s a bottom-up system.

That’s a strength when people claim someone is rigging votes in a warehouse. It also means the convenience of voting near home is a local decision, with a local price tag.

Chanhassen is a good example. In August 2025, at Carver County’s request, the Chanhassen City Council looked at offering in-person absentee voting at City Hall starting in 2026. Staff estimated it would cost the city about $31,000 in 2026 and $45,000 in 2028, with the county helping with training and some first-year costs. Council members said they liked the idea of making voting more accessible, but wanted the county’s financial support to be firmer and more substantial.

This fall, the city’s own announcement sends Chanhassen voters to the Carver County Government Center in Chaska. Waconia, meanwhile, pays to run its own site.

Neither choice is scandalous. But it’s a useful reminder that “access to voting” isn’t an abstraction. It’s staff hours, election judges and a line in a budget.

Where to vote early in the Southwest Metro

Most early voting sites keep regular weekday business hours (usually 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.), then add extra hours as Election Day gets closer:

Saturday, Oct. 24: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Tuesday, Oct. 27: Open late, until 7 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 31: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 1: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Monday, Nov. 2: Open until 5 p.m. This is the last day to vote early.

These extra hours apply at the county sites listed below. Some city halls set their own schedules, so check with your city before you go.

The full statewide list lives on the Secretary of State’s site.

Carver County

Carver County Government Center (Administration Building), 600 East Fourth Street, Chaska. Open to every Carver County voter, including Chanhassen, Chaska, Victoria, Carver and the townships. Regular hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays, plus the extended hours above. Details on the county elections page.
Waconia City Hall, 201 South Vine Street. Waconia residents only, opening Oct. 16, Monday through Thursday 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Fridays 7:30 to 11:30 a.m. Until then, Waconia voters can use the Government Center in Chaska.

Scott County

Scott County Public Works Facility, 600 Country Trail East, Jordan. For 2026, the county moved in-person absentee voting exclusively to this Jordan facility, starting 46 days before the election. All Scott County voters can use it, weekdays 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Jordan and Belle Plaine city halls are open now for their own residents.
Shakopee, Prior Lake, Savage, New Prague and Elko New Market city halls open Oct. 16 for their own residents, weekdays through Oct. 30. Jackson and Louisville township residents vote at Shakopee City Hall; Spring Lake Township residents vote at Prior Lake City Hall. See the county’s location list.

Southwest Hennepin County

Eden Prairie City Center, 8080 Mitchell Road. Open now for Eden Prairie residents, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays, with extended hours on the dates above (Eden Prairie Local News has the rundown).
Deephaven City Hall is open now for Deephaven and Woodland residents.
Minnetonka Community Center, Excelsior (Old Excelsior schoolhouse), Shorewood, Hopkins, Minnetrista, St. Bonifacius and Tonka Bay all open Oct. 16 for their own residents. Note that Excelsior and Tonka Bay are closed Fridays.
Any Hennepin County voter can also use the Hennepin County Government Center in downtown Minneapolis, starting now.

Voting by mail: The deadline is receipt, not postmark

Apply at mnvotes.gov/absentee. The state recommends applying by Friday, Oct. 2. You’ll need a witness when you fill out your ballot: Any U.S. citizen 18 or older, or a notary. If you aren’t registered, your witness has to see your ID and mark which one you showed.

Your ballot has to be received by Election Day. A postmark doesn’t save it. The Secretary of State’s advice is to mail it right away, and if Election Day is less than a week out, drop it off instead.

Dropping it off has its own rules:

Return it to the office that sent it. For Carver County, that’s the Government Center in Chaska. Waconia’s city FAQ says completed mail ballots can’t be dropped off at Waconia City Hall.
Your own ballot must be in by 5 p.m. on Election Day. You can drop off ballots for up to three other people, with ID.
Do not bring your absentee ballot to your polling place on Election Day. They can’t take it.
Scott County posts a list of staffed ballot drop sites for the general election. None of our three counties currently shows a 24-hour drop box on the state’s list.

Deadlines to hand-deliver your absentee ballot on Election Day vary wildly across city lines. Carver County enforces a strict 5:00 p.m. cut-off at the Government Center in Chaska. While Eden Prairie's website lists an 8:00 p.m. deadline for City Center drop-offs, Hennepin County generally advises 5:00 p.m.

To guarantee your vote is counted, assume the 5:00 p.m. deadline applies to you, and remember that you can never drop an absentee ballot at a regular neighborhood polling place.

Then track it at mnvotes.gov/track. And if you’d rather never apply again, the state now has a permanent absentee list that mails you a ballot every election.

Registration: Oct. 13 is a soft deadline, not a hard one

You can register online through Oct. 13. After that, you register in person, either at an early voting site or at your polling place on Election Day, with proof of residence. If you’ve moved or changed your name, you need to re-register.

If you’re waiting for Nov. 3

Polls are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. If you’re in line by 8 p.m., don’t leave, you can still vote.

Check your polling place with the state’s Polling Place Finder, even if you’ve voted at the same church gym for a decade. Waconia, for instance, dropped its ward system and now has four precincts, and the city warns that your polling location has likely changed.

Your rights, briefly

A few worth knowing before you go:

Time off work. You can take paid time off to vote at any point in the 46-day absentee period, not just Election Day. Your employer can’t make you use vacation or PTO. That makes a Tuesday-lunch trip to Chaska or Jordan a legally protected errand.
The 100-foot rule. Secretary Simon has been explicit that state law keeps everyone but voters, election workers, people who work in the building and one challenger per party away from a polling place entrance. Minnesota law also bars law enforcement from being preemptively posted at polling places. Given the past year in this state, that’s worth remembering.
No campaign gear. Shirts, hats and buttons for a candidate or party on the ballot aren’t allowed. Issue messages that do not directly correlate to a ballot question or candidateare fine.
Help and do-overs. You can bring your kids, ask for help, and get a new ballot if you make a mistake.

One place where skipping isn’t neutral

You don’t have to vote in every race. Leave a race blank and the rest of your ballot still counts.

Except for one question.

This year’s ballot includes a constitutional amendment about how much money the Permanent School Fund sends to school districts. Minnesota constitutional amendments need “yes” votes from a majority of everyone who votes in the election, so leaving the question blank has the same practical effect as voting no.

Whatever you think of the amendment, make that choice on purpose.

The short version

The state sets the rules. Your county and city decide how close to home you can follow them. That’s why a Waconia voter and a Chanhassen voter, living a few miles apart, have different options this fall.

So pick your method this week. Request the mail ballot, circle Oct. 16 if you want to feed the machine yourself, or plan the Election Day trip. The ballots are ready.

We should be too.

David

Chaska Protests

Every Friday from 3:00–4:00 p.m. at the corner of Chaska Blvd. and Chestnut Street (Highway 41) [Map]

Every Saturday from 1-2 pm at the corner of Hazeltine Boulevard and Highway 41 (Chestnut) [Map]

Chanhassen Protests

Every Saturday: 1^st & 3^rd Saturdays from 10-11am at Pedestrian Bridge over Highway 5.

Park at Discovery United Methodist Church. We have permission to park there.

2^nd, 4^th and 5^th Saturday from 10-11am at W 78^th and Kerber Boulevard.

Sign library is available.

Norwood Young America

Every Sunday, 11 a.m.–12 p.m. (Line up at the bike path south of Highway 212 and Faxon.)

Victoria

Every Wednesday from 4:30-5:30 pm on the corner of Highway 5 and Victoria Drive/County Rd 11.

Waconia

Every Saturday from 11:30-12:30 pm at Highway 5 and County Road 10 in front of the Starbucks and Jersey Mike’s. [Map]

SW Protectors

Every first and third Tuesday from 6:30 – 8:00 pm. It’s no cost and come and go as you like.

Please do buy something to eat or drink, though, to support our venue, which is The Golden Kitchen and is located at 207 N Chestnut Street #110 in Chaska. [Map]

Voting Started Friday