Mower County Auditor/Treasurer’s Office discusses options for voters in county now that absentee and mail-in ballots must be received by November 3rd

Late on Thursday, Oct. 29, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit overruled the state approved consent decree that had extended the deadline in Minnesota for receiving and accepting absentee and mail ballots as long as they were postmarked by Nov. 3 and received by election officials by Nov. 10. The Court of Appeals ruling now means absentee and mail ballots must be received by Nov. 3, Election Day, in order to be counted. Absentee ballots must be received no later than 3 pm on Nov. 3 and mail ballots must be received by 8 pm on Nov. 3 at county election offices.  KAUS News spoke with Amanda Kiefer, Deputy for Elections and Vital Records with the Mower County Auditor/Treasurer’s Office who stated that you should consider coming into their office and re-voting if you put your ballot in the mail sometime last week, and she added that if you have not mailed in your ballot, you should bring it directly to Austin City Hall….

Kiefer went on to talk about other options available to voters in Mower County to ensure their votes will be counted…

A reminder that all in-person polling places in the city of Austin have been consolidated at the Austin Holiday Inn and Convention Center due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Mower County Auditor/Treasurer Scott Felten stated that if anyone has any questions concerning voting in the November 3rd election, they can call the elections office at 507-437-9535 or 507-437-9456.  Callers are asked to be patient as the elections office is experiencing large numbers of phone calls and people absentee voting.  Felten went on to state that through Oct. 29, about 58% of registered voters in Mower County had either requested an absentee ballot or were sent a ballot because they live in a mail balloting precinct.