Why Hennepin County Election Results Are Taking So Long: What Officials Say

HENNEPIN COUNTY, MN — More than two hours after Minnesota polls closed Tuesday, election officials in the state's most populous county said they were still processing unofficial results.

Hennepin County Elections said in a post on X at about 10:30 p.m. that results may be shared in multiple batches, with the first likely covering the vast majority of the county's precincts. The county said it will post an update when the first batch is reported. The posts did not give a specific time.

The county has said it is working through ballots received by the Election Day deadlines. After polls closed at 8 p.m., officials said they would need Election Day results from all precincts, then would combine them with early voting and mail ballot results for each precinct before submitting initial results to the Minnesota Secretary of State.

"Accuracy is our priority," the county said shortly after polls closed.

Hennepin County has 395 precincts and 865,554 voters were registered there as of 7 a.m. Tuesday, according to the Secretary of State's precinct reporting page.

Before results began coming in, the Associated Press reported that the county expected complete results from all vote types in its first update.

During the August primary, the county's votes were reported at 10:27 p.m., MinnPost reported.

Until the county's numbers are reported, statewide totals in races such as governor and U.S. Senate will not include Hennepin County. The ballot also includes local races for county attorney, sheriff and county commissioner. Cedrick Frazier and Anders Folk are running for county attorney, and Joseph Banks and Dawanna Witt are running for sheriff.

Results reported on election night are unofficial. The county's canvassing board is scheduled to meet Nov. 9 at 1 p.m. to review and certify them.