The Jasper City Council has voted to switch to mail-in voting due to health concerns by election judges who are at higher risk from COVID-19. Pictured here are election judges Marion Peterson, Stella Lingen and Shirley Skorr who operated Jasper’s polling place at Memorial Hall during the March 3 primary election. File photo
The Jasper City Council during its June 9 meeting voted to switch to mail-in voting due to health risks posed by the pandemic.
“Due to the COVID pandemic, we have election judges who do not feel comfortable serving,” said Jasper City Clerk/Treasurer Cortney Kounkel. “All of our election judges are actually high risk.”
Kounkel described the steps required in order for the city to hold an in-person election as “astronomical.” She said it would require barriers, gloves, masks, hand sanitizer, soap and water. She said the election judges would be responsible for cleaning the voting booths after people finish voting.
“I think as of right now, it would just be a good idea to go to mail-in voting,” Kounkel said.
According to the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office, all non-metropolitan townships and cities with less than 400 registered voters outside of the Minneapolis and St. Paul seven-county metro area can choose to hold elections by mail.
Pipestone County Auditor-Treasurer Tyler Reisch said last week that Jasper was the last voting precinct in the county eligible to switch to mail-in voting that had not already done so, which means that all townships and all cities except Pipestone and Edgerton already have mail-in voting. Reisch said Jasper could switch back to in-person voting before the next election, which Jasper Mayor Mike Baustian said he was hopeful would be the case.
Reisch said that ballots are automatically mailed out between 21 and 30 days before the election to voters who are registered before pre-registration closes 21 days prior to the election in precincts that vote by mail. Mail-in ballots require a witness signature. Voters can return their completed ballots by mail, drop them off at the polling place at the Pipestone County Courthouse, or vote in person at the Courthouse on election day.
Those who are not registered can register online at the Secretary of State’s website at www.sos.state.mn.us/elections-voting/register-to-vote/ or at the Pipestone County Auditor’s Office at the Courthouse. People can also register and vote in person at the Courthouse Community Room on election day.