Farmington Feed: Elections

This is the Farmington Feed, bringing you information from the city of Farmington.

Hi, and welcome back to the Farmington Feed. I'm Caryn Hojnicki, the city's communications specialist, and I'm hungry for another episode of the Feed. This is an election year as our listeners know. There are still questions that many residents have about the election process in Farmington, Dakota County, and just the state of Minnesota. So let's sit down with and chat with Shirley Buecksler, city clerk, about this election process. Hello, and welcome back to The Feed.

Thanks for inviting me, Caryn.

As city clerk, you're responsible for our election process here in Farmington. So approximately how many registered voters are there in our city?

Currently, Farmington is over 14,000 registered voters. That's pretty impressive.

Yeah. With our population just over, what, 23,000? Mhmm. Yeah. That's a lot of people. I know you're really excited about the election process and have a wealth of knowledge. So let's start with the basics. Who qualifies to vote?

Great question. To vote in Minnesota, you must be a US citizen, at least 18 years old on election day, a resident of Minnesota for 20 days, not currently incarcerated for a felony conviction, and not under a court order that revokes your right to vote. Note that 16 17 year olds can actually preregister now so they're ready to vote when they turn 18.

Oh, interesting. I don't think I knew that. How does someone find out they're polling location once they're registered?

It's actually super easy. Simply visit mnvotes.gov and enter either your ZIP code or the county you live in, then enter your house number and the street name. And the state site will provide you with information including information on the next election, where you vote, including the name and address of the polling place, and a map to get you there, a link to the list of candidates. And once ballots have been prepared, you can even view a sample ballot.

That's a lot of information at one place.

It is.

So, basically, your answers are gonna be go to mnvotes.gov

Exactly.

Right?

They've got everything.

So we have election judges that work at the polls to assist voters. Mhmm. Is there still a need for more election judges for the upcoming general election?

Yes. We're always looking for more judges. You never know. We can use alternates. We need people during the day. If you're interested in serving your community and getting paid at the same time, the application's available on the city's website at FarmingtonMN.gov, then choose elections under the government tab. The completed application can be emailed to my attention or dropped off at city hall. We also have them here if anyone wants to stop by and fill one out. Farmington election judges.

Do it the do it the old school way.

Yeah.

Get a piece of paper and fill it out. Yeah.

They get paid $13.50 an hour for election judges, and head judges are paid $15 an hour. I hope folks will consider joining our great group of judges at team Farmington.

Alright. And, I heard a little something about an epoll book, and I know you talked about it before we posted a little bit about it. What is it used for?

Well, if you recall, prior to the epoll book or poll pad as it's sometimes usually referred to, voters would check-in by signing with a pen next to their name in the roster book. And if they needed to register on to vote on election day, they actually had to sit down first at a separate table to complete a long form by hand.

Which I'm sure I did. Yeah. When I registered to vote. I did too. How many years ago?

Yeah. So this could take several minutes depending on how how quick or how slow you can actually write and then get back in line to the roster judge. The poll pad can actually register a voter and check them in at the same time. With the poll pad, the average voter wait in Farmington for the August primary was 34 seconds.

Wow. That's not long at all.

That's super quick.

Yeah. So that's nice. Makes it more a little more efficient and quick. Now what if you can't come on election day for whatever reason? Are there additional hours to submit your vote outside of that?

Yes. Certainly. We work hard to make sure everyone has an opportunity to vote. If they can't make it to the polls on election day, they can visit Farmington City Hall or any of the 3 Dakota County election offices to vote early. Absentee voting is available now through November 4th during regular office hours of 8 to 4:30.

That's a lot of extra hours. It is. Makes it super easy because there's no, like, I can't make it.

Exactly. Yeah.

You can just come in whenever during regular hours of city hall and then a couple bonus days. Right? Yes. So I've heard the terms, and I'm sure some people are confused about this. There's absentee voting and direct balloting. Can you explain the difference between the two?

Sure. Absentee voting is basically the ability to cast your vote when you're absent from your polling place or unable to go there on election day. Early voting is just another term for absentee voting. Same as absentee voting, you're voting early instead of going to the polls on election day. Do not need to to state the reason why you need to vote early.

Okay. So that's like a extra assurance for that voter that wants to know

Exactly.

Like, they're actually coming on election day

Mhmm.

But it's not on election day. It's a little bit before.

Yep.

So, again, absentee is until

It's now through November 1st. Okay.

Oh, they can still do absentee up until election day as well.

Absentee is the whole process.

The whole thing.

It just changes between whether it's by envelope or direct balloting to that Okay. Ballot counter. Alright.

That makes sense. Thank you for clarifying. So I know you've bragged about this before that you think Minnesota and Dakota County are leaders in in this election process. So tell me why. Tell me why you think that.

Well, I try not to study any other state because I believe ours is the best.

Hey. Don't brag. It's alright.

I believe Dakota County and the state of Minnesota are leaders in the election process because they have such great people working hard to serve our our voters throughout Dakota County and across the state of Minnesota. It starts at the top with the secretary of state's office providing us with legislative changes and everything in regard to elections. Dakota County staff are, in my opinion, the best in what they do. They provide training and everything we need to run an election successfully. They their staff are so supportive for all clerks whether we work in a city, township, or school district, and one of the best I've ever worked with.

Exactly. At the county for sure. So election day, and I feel like these are normal hours for election day that hasn't changed, but some people still don't remember. What are the hours for voting on election day?

All polling locations will be open from 7 AM to 8 PM.

Okay. So that's a long day.

It is.

But with a quick, registration and signing in, that makes it a lot easier for people.

Yep. Lines have been

And the lines will not be long, hopefully. Hopefully. Because we're so fast. Right? So tell me a little bit about what your day looks like. I know probably a lot more preceding election day, but I'm sure you're busy. What does your election day look like?

Well, the days leading up to election day, I'm working to prepare and organize for that big day. We have great public works staff who help me set up each polling place the day before with equipment and everything needed so our judges are ready to go on election day. I couldn't do this without them. On election day, staff and I can be seen running from one polling place to another to assist with any needs our judges may have in getting set up by 7 AM or anything they need throughout the day.

For sure.

I'm also at city hall to take questions from voters who need to find out where they vote or have other questions, and the head judges at each polling place report back to me throughout the day.

Okay. So you're kinda like a chicken with your head cut off for a little bit?

Probably.

Oh, so at the end of that day, we're gonna wanna know what the results are. How can voters find out election results? And most importantly, I'm sure they're looking for our mayor and council results.

Yep. So you mentioned mnvotes.gov has everything. It does. Election results will be available at that site, Minnesota secretary of state's website, and we'll actually have a link on the city's website to get you there.

Okay. Perfect. Mnvotes.gov.

Exactly.

Correct. A resident, you mentioned, can be sure their vote is counted if they do the direct balloting.

Mhmm.

Same kind of idea on election day because they're doing the same thing. They're literally putting it in Right. The counter. So that's how they can make sure that it is being counted. So what happens if it doesn't? There's a there's an error or message or what happens?

If you get a message that says you may get a message that says you over voted.

Okay.

Where it says vote for 2, but you voted for 3.

Oh, okay.

Undervote where you can vote for 2, but you only voted for 1. It's reminding you that, hey, it still could make another choice or oops, you went over. You have the choice to either cast the ballot the way it is, but those won't be counted because of that overvote. It can't pick 2 out of 3 for you. Or you can spoil it, go back to the ballot judge and spoil it and get a different one to vote on and do it correctly.

Okay. Yeah. That's good that to know that they can do that. As a voter in Minnesota, what's most important thing that they need to know?

Well, the most important thing is to research the candidates and the issues beforehand, then make sure you get out and vote. With 46 days of absentee voting prior to election day, including some weekends and evenings, the ability to apply for an absentee ballot online, and polling places open from 7 AM to 8 PM on election day. I think these options make it pretty easy for everyone to get out and make their voice heard. Remember, if you choose to vote by absentee ballot, just be sure it's submitted before 8 PM on election day to be counted.

Okay. Perfect. And what's your favorite part about the whole election process?

Well, organizing and preparing for the big day is a lot of work, but it's also exciting when election day finally gets here and I get to see our hard work paid off. But what's truly my favorite are my judges. They're always happy about what they're doing whether it's training, testing equipment, serving our voters at health care facilities, and working on election day. They're happy to do it because they enjoy serving their community. Team Farmington judges are amazing.

Okay. So you mentioned, going to health care facilities. How does that process work?

We actually take the absentee voting process to them.

Okay. Because they can't get there. Right?

Right. Yeah. Instead of them coming to us, we take everything to them and set up just like they would here if they came to city hall.

So it's like their own little precinct?

It is. It's so much fun. It's the most rewarding. Next to my judges, that's my favorite thing. It's the most rewarding thing to me.

Yeah. Giving them that ability that they they wouldn't have otherwise because they can't get there.

Yeah. So that's awesome. Happy to see you.

Good. Good. Good. Thank you, Shirley, for discussing the elections process here and helping to prepare the community to vote this November. So but before I wrap up, I want to remind listeners that there will be a change in precinct number 1, which is currently at Rambling River Center.

Just that anyone, any voter can feel free to reach out to me if they have any election questions, and thanks for having me today.

Yeah. Thank you so much. Well, that concludes this month's episode of the Farmington Feed. We look forward to connecting with residents with this podcast. If you have any feedback, guest requests, or ideas, email me at Communications@FarmingtonMN.gov. Don't forget to subscribe to the Farmington Feed wherever you like to get your podcasts.