Minnesota leads the nation in voter turnout, and this year’s primary election was no different with a historic 1.1 million ballots cast. Yet, there are some people–like President Donald Trump–who continue to attack our election systems, calling them “rigged.”
Minnesota has already declared its voting system as “the gold standard for balancing accessibility and security.” In fact, the Secretary of State’s (SOS) office under Steve Simon “has largely established adequate procedures for processing and maintaining voter registration records,” the state’s Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA) found in its 2026 voter registration report.
The report also found that Simon’s office did its part in helping counties maintain accurate lists of registered voters and provided useful guidance for local election staff. This means that whether it comes to election security or helping election staff keep up with the millions of voters day by day, the state is well-equipped to provide accurate election results.
Here are the exact safeguards that are in place to ensure that Minnesota elections are safe and secure.
Paper ballots
All ballots in Minnesota are cast on paper, meaning there is no chance of an electronic machine filling in the wrong bubble. If someone can’t mark the paper with a pen, they can use a ballot-marking device or request help from an election judge.
Only US citizens can vote
Despite the Trump administration’s claims that noncitizens are voting in the state, and Trump’s unsuccessful attempt to seize Minnesota’s voter rolls because of it, all Minnesota voters must be a US citizen. This means green card holders can not vote, and you have to have a naturalization ceremony to register to vote.
According to a 2024 paper from the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minnesota, there were only three documented cases of green card holders convicted for unlawful voting or registration in Minnesota from 2015 to 2024, representing 0.00002% of total votes cast.
Local election officials also check existing registrations to rule out any other non-eligible voters, such as inactive voters of over four years, deaths, felons, revoked voting rights, and moves.
Vouching
Vouching–where someone swears an oath confirming the address of another voter—has been legal in Minnesota for over 50 years, and it has a very specific purpose. Vouching only proves that a potential voter lives in the precinct they are voting for. That means they still have to bring ID or social security number to verify their identity.
Those who want to vouch for another person have to be registered in the same precinct as the person they are vouching for. For instance, if someone just moved to a new address, but that isn’t reflected on their ID yet.
The only exception is for employees of authorized residential facilities (like those for senior citizens), who must only prove they work at the facility. Vouching is commonly used by senior living facilities, as many senior citizens have an ID with an address that doesn’t match where they currently live.
Voting equipment testing
Before being used at all, Minnesota voting machines are tested and certified by the US Election Assistance Commission. They undergo even more testing by the SOS’s office.
Before each election, local election officials also test all election equipment used, like assistive voting devices and ballot tabulators. Some of the equipment undergoes a Public Accuracy Test. You can attend a Public Accuracy Test by contacting your local election official.
Post-election reviews
After every state general election, Minnesota counties perform a post-election review. Counties randomly draw a set of precincts to audit ballot tabulators’ results from those precincts. Votes for certain offices are counted by hand and compared to the election machine-counted results.
Election results cannot be posted until a county canvassing board reviews and approves it. The review is then sent to the SOS office, where it’s reviewed again.
Once the SOS office approves the state’s canvass report, it goes to the state canvassing board. There, state elections including federal offices, state constitutional amendment ballot questions, and legislative and judicial offices with county overlap are certified.
Needless to say, Minnesota has multiple independent processes in place to make sure votes are counted correctly and our elections stay secure.
