No matter which side you plan to support in the general election in the fall, it has never been more important to get involved in the political process.

The Minnesota presidential nomination primary is less than a month away, and absentee voting has been underway for about three weeks.

As of Friday, a total of 43,928 ballots had been requested across the state — which included 37,987 DFL ballots and 5,926 Republican ballots, according to the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office. Of those ballots, 17,195 had been turned in and accepted.

Absentee ballots must be returned on or before Election Day to be counted.

In Freeborn County, voters can request primary absentee ballots from the county auditor-treasurer’s office or through the secretary of state’s website. Voters must request either a Democratic or a Republican ballot.

This will be the first time for Minnesota to have a presidential primary since 1992.

Freeborn County has nine precincts that will be voting by mail ballot in the primary and will already have ballots being mailed to their homes to fill out and return.

For everyone else not able to make it out for the primary on March 3 — or if you simply want to vote early — we encourage you to do so, as you do not need an excuse to do so in Minnesota.

Precinct caucuses will be one week before the presidential nomination primary on Feb. 25 and will be similar to ones in years past, other than not having a vote for presidential preference.

Caucuses are hosted by each of the parties and give attendees time to discuss issues for the party to support, choose volunteers for political activities in the precinct and choose delegates to endorse candidates at future conventions. 

The Republican Party caucus will be at Southwest Middle School, and the DFL Party caucus will be at the Union Center off of Minnesota Highway 13. Both begin at 7 p.m.

Get involved in shaping the future of our state and nation.