Dakota County works with the Minnesota Secretary of State's Office to ensure elections are safe, secure and accurate.
Download Election Security Frequently Asked Questions
Know the difference between rumor and reality
Local officials are trusted sources of accurate information. It is always best to check with your local elections official whether something is true or not, before sharing it with others. For questions, contact Elections at elections@co.dakota.mn.us.
Voting equipment and certification
The county uses Dominion ImageCast Evolution ballot tabulators in all precincts. They count the votes cast on each ballot and store the actual paper ballot inserted by the voter.
Under state law, all election systems are certified by an independent testing authority. This authority is accredited by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. The Secretary of State's Office must also approve the system for use.
The tabulating equipment is never connected to the internet or to any other device or network by means of wireless communication during voting.
The only device that can be connected to a ballot tabulator is the assisted voter device. This allows private voting for persons with disabilities. The device can't connect to the internet.
Paper ballots
Voters mark a paper ballot that is scanned into the tabulator. The paper ballots are securely preserved and retained according to state and federal laws and available for audit, review or recount as permitted by law.
Testing voting equipment
Before every election, the county and cities make sure equipment is tabulating votes accurately during Public Accuracy Testing. Election judges from the major political parties observe the tests. The county makes dates and times of testing public, so all interested parties may observe.
Dakota County ensures everyone votes only once
Dakota County takes many steps to ensure that voters only cast one ballot in an election. Voters must be eligible to receive a ballot. Election officials keep detailed records of who has already voted and who has already requested and received a ballot in the mail. These steps make it difficult for someone to cheat, so voting twice is both easy to catch and extremely rare. It is a violation of federal and state law that is punishable by time in jail, large fines or both.
Results transmission
After the polls close, unofficial results are sent by modem. The use of a modem is specifically authorized by law in Minnesota as a means to transmit unofficial precinct vote totals to a county's central counting system after voting has ended. This is a secure means of transmitting vote totals from precincts around Dakota County so the unofficial voting results may be posted more quickly for public review.
Post-election audits
After each state general election, the county must conduct a post-election review. This review is open to the public. During the review, the results from at least five randomly selected precincts are audited. Each ballot in the precincts is hand-counted for President or Governor, U.S. Senator and U.S. Representative.
An equal number of election judges from each major political party review and count the ballots. The review verifies that the vote totals match.
Recounts
A recount for statewide and federal races is only allowed when:
- The vote totals for each candidate are within a one-quarter of one percent (0.025%) margin, or
- Requested by a losing candidate in the election
If the voting results are within a .025% margin, the recount is mandatory and paid for by the state. If the vote totals are not within that margin, only the losing candidate can request a recount. That candidate must pay the recount costs, unless the result changes.
More information
The Minnesota Secretary of State's Office has more information on how our elections are safe, secure and accurate: