Preparations made for Tuesday primary

While Tuesday, March 3 is the day set aside for voting in Minnesota’s first presidential primary in decades, some residents are ahead of the game.

According to the Carlton County auditor’s office, more than 500 Carlton County residents have already cast their vote in the Minnesota presidential primary via a combination of mail-in and absentee ballots. Earlier this week, Minnesota Public Radio wrote that close to 40,000 Minnesotans have already voted.

Local residents who received mail-in ballots or absentee ballots have through March 2 to get their ballots in, although those who haven’t already mailed them should probably deliver them to the courthouse.

According to the Secretary of State website, ballots can be returned in person up until 3 p.m. on Election Day. The Carlton County auditor’s office will also be open extended hours before Tuesday for those who wish to vote absentee there: the office is open for voting 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 29 and Monday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The office is located on the second floor of the Carlton County Courthouse in Carlton. Absentee or mail-in ballots received after Election Day will not count.

The auditor’s office reminds voters that an individual can bring only the maximum of three ballots for themselves and others. Voters must also check the party they’re voting for on the signature page of the envelope; otherwise, the ballot cannot be accepted and will be reissued.

While President Donald Trump is the only name on the Republican ballot, the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party ballot lists 15 candidate names plus a box for “uncommitted.”

The Minnesota DFL presidential candidate names will appear in the following order (bolded candidates are still running): Deval Patrick, Tom Steyer, Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, Julian Castro, John K. Delaney, Marianne Williamson, Bernie Sanders, Andrew Yang, Elizabeth Warren, Tulsi Gabbard, Michael R. Bloomberg, Joseph Biden, Uncommitted, Cory Booker and Michael Bennet. Democratic candidates that have dropped out of the race include Deval Patrick, Julian Castro, John K. Delaney, Marianne Williamson, Andrew Yang, Cory Booker and Michael Bennet.

Voters can register at the polling place Tuesday if they missed the Feb. 11 deadline. To find your local polling place, go to https://pollfinder.sos.state.mn.us and fill in your zip code or county and follow directions from there.

Only the Republican and DFL parties have presidential candidates on the primary ballot. Voters will have to request the ballot of the party of their choice; otherwise they can’t vote. A list of who voted in a presidential nomination primary and the political party each voter selected will be provided to the chair of each major political party. How a voter voted on the ballot will be secret.

Minnesota has four major parties: the Democratic-Farmer-Laborer, Republican, Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis and Legal Marijuana Now parties. Only the DFL and GOP will host presidential primaries in 2020; the marijuana parties are sitting out this year.

The chair of major parties will get a list of who voted in the primary and the party with which they voted. Its debatable what the parties might do with the information.

Same-day registration stilll works for primaries. While early registration has closed, you can register Tuesday.

You must be 18 years old on primary day to vote. That differs from the rules of Minnesota’s old presidential caucuses, which allowed 17-year-olds to vote if they’d be 18 by Election Day.

The primary is for presidential picks only. Local, state and other national offices will have primaries in August if needed.