(FOX 9) – With election day in just over a week, FOX 9 takes a look at how Minnesota counts its votes.

When does Minnesota count mail-in ballots?

Absentee and absentee ballots can be counted in Minnesota before Election Day, but results cannot be released until after polls close on Election Day. If your ballot is rejected, you will be notified by election officials.

Once received, mail-in ballots are checked to ensure they are correct and valid. They are reserved until 18 days before the election. At this point, the ballots can be fed into a vote counter. Election officials maintain a database to ensure there are no duplicate votes.

When will the results arrive?

Unofficial results are available shortly after polls close on Election Day and reporting continues late into the night.

As always, FOX 9 will have live, updated results as soon as polls close on election day.

Once the unofficial results are announced, certification begins in the following days.

How does Minnesota ensure people don’t vote twice?

All mail-in ballots are tracked individually and linked to a voter database. Once an absentee ballot is accepted, it is marked in the database, which election officials or election judges can view and indicate whether a person has an accepted ballot.

Voter lists are updated regularly until election day.

What vote counters does Minnesota use?

All voting machines in Minnesota are “optical scanning,” meaning they scan the ballot and return the results based on the completed bubbles on the ballot.

The State uses the following machines:

• Dominion ImageCast Central (central account)
• Dominion ImageCast Evolution (voting location)
• ES&S Digital Scan 200 (polling location and central counting)
• ES&S Digital Scan 450 (central counter)
• ES&S Digital Scan 850 (central counter)
• ES&S Digital Scan 950 (central counter)
• Hart Verity Central
• Hart Verity Scan (polling location)

Voting machines have been proven to be far more accurate than manually counting ballots.

Can non-citizens vote?

Despite what you might hear or read online, Minnesota has systems in place to ensure voters are eligible citizens.

Starting this year, Minnesota began using automatic voter registration, meaning Minnesotans are registered to vote when they apply for or renew their driver’s license.

During this process, the Department of Public Safety verifies documents confirming citizenship (such as birth certificates, passports, or naturalization certificates) before sending the information to the Secretary of State’s office, which responsible for recording votes.

When is early voting in Minnesota?

Early voting has been underway in the state since Friday, September 20. You can vote early at any time between now and Monday, November 4 (the day before Election Day).

To find out where you can vote early in your county, you can Click here.

Election day is November 5. Find your polling location by by clicking here.

After Election Day

The vote count is considered unofficial until certified by a canvassing committee. Boards meet at the county and state level and their meetings are open to the public.

Prospecting committees check the results and ensure that they are entered correctly. Departmental commissions are made up of local officials.

If the race is close, candidates can request a recount. If the margin of victory is less than 0.25 percent. Otherwise, a candidate can request a “discretionary” recount which they are required to pay for themselves and is limited to contesting the results in three precincts.

During a recount, a candidate or their representative can challenge individual ballots. The contested ballots are then examined by the voting committee.

In addition to recounts, the state requires post-election review for federal races (presidential, senatorial and congressional). As part of this process, ballots are counted manually and compared to the results of ballot counters.