Amid largely unsubstantiated concerns about the sanctity of mail-in or absentee voting, the Minnesota Office of the Secretary of State has provided a link that allows absentee voters to track their ballots to make sure that they are processed and included in the final vote count.

To date, more than 375,000 mail-in or absentee ballots have been cast and returned with hundreds of thousands more expected before Tuesday’s primary election. The 375,000 votes received is more than five times the total number received in 2016 elections.

The link allows voters to enter the pertinent information that was included on their absentee ballots – first and last name, date of birth and the ID number that was provided on the absentee ballot (driver’s license, the last four digits of their Social Security number or their passport I.D. number).

The Secretary of State points out that submitted ballots may be held by election officials until Election Day, when they are all processed with the ballots that are cast at polling places.

If you are unsure which I.D. number you provided with your mail-in or absentee ballot application, try separate searches using each I.D. type.

 To access the link, click here: https://mnvotes.sos.state.mn.us/AbsenteeBallotStatus.aspx