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Scott Felten

Mower County Auditor/Treasurer

The Nov. 8 General Election is less than a week away and the Mower County Elections Office will be open additional days and hours for voters wanting to absentee vote in person or wanting to drop off their absentee or mail ballots.

The Elections Office is located in the Mower County Government Center at 201 1st Street NE in Austin.  Please enter the building through the main entrance on the northwest side of the building.

The extended voting times are:  10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 5 and until 5 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 7.

Regular office hours at the Elections Office are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday. The Elections Office can be reached by calling 507-437-9535 or by emailing elections@co.mower.mn.us. In-person absentee voting (early voting) is currently taking place and runs through Monday, Nov. 7.

Please note that absentee voting is not allowed on Election Day, Nov. 8. Voters must vote at their designated polling location that day. The location of polling places is available on the county’s website and was published in the Austin Daily Herald on Saturday, Oct. 22, and Oct. 29.

If a voter previously requested an absentee ballot be mailed to them, but now has decided they prefer to vote in person, please bring the ballot and the envelopes you received in the mail with you to the Elections Office as this will shorten the time it takes you to complete the absentee voting process.

To anyone still wishing to absentee vote but who has not yet requested and received a ballot, we strongly suggest you do so in-person at the Elections Office.  There is not enough time to mail out a ballot and ensure it will be voted and returned by Election Day.  An absentee ballot application can be completed and then the voter will be given an absentee ballot to vote at the Elections Office all at once.

A voter can have someone else drop off their absentee ballot at the Elections Office until 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 8; this person is called an agent. However, a person (the agent) is limited to dropping off the ballot of up to three other voters.  Anyone who drops off the ballot of someone else must complete a form so that we can document the limit per agent.

Mail Balloting Precincts

Registered voters who live in mail ballot precincts (townships/cities) have been mailed their ballot.  These voters can complete their ballot and drop it off at the Elections Office.

If a mail ballot voter prefers to vote in-person, please bring the ballot and the envelopes you received in the mail with you to the Elections Office as this will shorten the time it takes you to complete the voting process.

Non-registered voters living in mail ballot precincts can vote by coming to the Elections Office. Voters in mail ballot precincts can return their ballot or vote in-person on Election Day at the Elections Office from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Sample Ballot

Voters can look at a sample ballot by going to mnvotes.org.  A combined sample ballot was also published in the Austin Daily Herald on Saturday, Oct. 22, and Oct. 29.