Counties · olmsted.cd1gop.com
Republican Party of Olmsted County
Chair Aaron Eberhart
Events occurring in Rochester, not only events this BPOU created.
Early voting*
You can vote from Friday, September 18 right through Monday, November 2 — no excuse or reason needed. Walk in, get a ballot, vote it there. From Friday, October 16 your ballot goes straight into the ballot counter instead of an envelope. On Tuesday, November 3 you vote at your own precinct instead, not at these offices.
Vote from your car
Can't easily come inside? You don't have to. At the Olmsted County Elections Office, 2122 Campus DR SE, Suite 300, two election judges from different parties will bring your ballot out to your car and carry it back in when you're done. You can register there too.
Call 507-328-7650 when you arrive — or before you go — and ask for curbside voting. The office's hours are below.
Closed right now
Voting reopens at 8 AM today.
Olmsted County Elections Office
2122 Campus DR SE, Suite 300
Rochester, MN 55904
Regular hours
- Monday–Friday, 8 AM – 5 PM
- Closed Saturday and Sunday — except the extra dates below
Extra dates, every location
- Sat, October 24 — 9 AM – 3 PM
- Tue, October 27 — open late, until 7 PM
- Sat, October 31 — 9 AM – 3 PM
- Sun, November 1 — 9 AM – 3 PM
- Mon, November 2 — open late, until 5 PM
Finding it: Suite 300. A monitored ballot drop box is here too.
Vote from your car: call 507-328-7650 when you arrive and judges will bring your ballot out.
Voting is here, on Campus Drive SE — not at the Government Center downtown (151 4th St SE), which only takes completed absentee ballots during business hours.
Voting at the University of Minnesota Rochester was one day only, Monday, October 19.
Closed right now
Voting reopens at 8 AM today.
Rochester City Hall
201 4th St SE
Rochester, MN 55904
Regular hours
- Tue, October 27, 8 AM – 7 PM
- Wed, October 28 – Fri, October 30, 8 AM – 5 PM
- Sat, October 31 – Sun, November 1, 9 AM – 3 PM
- Mon, November 2, 8 AM – 5 PM
- This site opens on these dates only — not every weekday.
Finding it: Conference Room 104, the City Hall side of the Government Center.
Opens Tuesday, October 27 — not before. Do not send anyone downtown early.
Who runs the election here
Luke Turner
Olmsted County election official
Phone: 507-328-7650
Email: elections@olmstedcounty.gov
County elections page: olmstedcounty.gov
Office: Olmsted County Elections, 2122 Campus Dr SE, Suite 300, Rochester, MN 55904
From the Secretary of State's county election-office directory, read 2026-09-20. The county is the authority on its own election — if what you find here and what they say differ, they are right.
Rides to vote
Free rides to the polls or to early voting, from Republican Party of Olmsted County volunteers — for any voter, whoever they vote for.
Getting your ballot counted
From Friday, October 16: your ballot goes straight into the counter
Until then, voting in person before Election Day means your ballot is sealed in an envelope and counted later. From Friday, October 16 through Monday, November 2, it goes directly into the ballot counter, just as it would at your polling place on Election Day. In Olmsted County that is the Elections Office every open day from October 16, the University of Minnesota Rochester on Monday, October 19, and Rochester City Hall from Tuesday, October 27.
Minn. Stat. 203B.081 subd. 1aReturning a ballot you got by mail
- By mail: it must arrive by 8 p.m. on Tuesday, November 3. A postmark does not count, so mail it well ahead.
- In person: by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, November 3, at:
- Olmsted County Elections Office — 2122 Campus Dr SE, Suite 300 — at the counter, or in the monitored drop box there
- Olmsted County Government Center — 151 4th St SE, Rochester — during business hours
- Not at a polling place. Polling places cannot accept absentee ballots. If you still have yours on Election Day, go to your polling place and vote there in person instead.
Carrying someone else's ballot
A voter may ask someone to deliver their sealed absentee envelope. You may do this for no more than three voters in this election. Take it straight to the election office (the places above) or put it straight in the mail. The same deadlines apply: in person by 5 p.m. on November 3, or arriving by mail by 8 p.m.
Never open it, add to it or hold on to it. Tampering with the envelope, or not delivering it right away, is a crime.
Minn. Stat. 203B.08 subd. 1(b)Helping someone mark their ballot
A voter who needs help may bring anyone they choose, or ask two election judges from different parties. The only people who may not help are the voter's employer, someone acting for the employer, or an officer or agent of the voter's union. There is no limit on how many voters one person may help.
The helper marks the ballot the way the voter says, never suggests a choice, and keeps it private.
Minn. Stat. 204C.15Vote from your car
If you can't easily leave your vehicle, you can ask to have a ballot brought out to you. Two election judges from different parties bring it to your car and carry it back inside when you're done, and you can register or update your registration the same way. On Election Day this is available at every polling place. In Olmsted County you can also do it at the Elections Office while early voting is open (see the top of this page).
Minn. Stat. 204C.15 subd. 2Drivers and helpers: leave the campaign in the car
No campaign buttons, shirts, hats or literature, and no talking about candidates or ballot questions, inside a polling place or within 100 feet of the building on Election Day — or within 100 feet of the voting room during early and absentee voting. Rides are for any voter, whoever they vote for.
Minn. Stat. 211B.11Rules from Minnesota statutes; Olmsted County details from Olmsted County Elections and the City of Rochester, checked October 4, 2026. Find your polling place: pollfinder.sos.mn.gov.
* “Early voting” here means at-will in-person absentee voting. Anyone registered may do it from September 18 — no excuse, no reason required. (The narrower process Minnesota statute calls Early Voting starts October 16; from a voter’s side of the counter the two look much the same.) It is entirely optional — you give up nothing by waiting and voting at your precinct on Tuesday, November 3.
Hours and addresses from the Minnesota Secretary of State, verified 13 September 2026 and re-checked against its 28 September list on October 5. Building images are illustrations, not photographs. Map pins re-checked October 5 against the US Census and OpenStreetMap geocoders. Olmsted's three sites re-checked October 4 against Olmsted County Elections and the City of Rochester. For anything specific to a building, the county auditor is the authority — mnvotes.gov.