By Jill Fennema –

Elections in Minnesota will proceed normally this year. Having all voting completed by mail was considered as an option this year, but the state decided not to do that. County Auditor Tyler Reisch reported that in Pipestone County elections will be completed by mail for many precincts, but that was something that those precincts had already been doing. Jasper and Trosky are considering going to mail-in ballots, but Edgerton and the two Pipestone precincts will be voting in person.

Reisch is concerned about the ability to get election judges.  Typically judges are older adults, and people in that age bracket are more concerned about not exposing themselves to the coronavirus.

The state did expand the absentee ballot process to two weeks before the election rather than only one week.

The general election will be held on Tuesday, November 3. The filing period for open offices begins at 8:00 a.m., Tuesday, May 19, and ends at 5:00 p.m., Tuesday, June 2.  Normally you have to file for office in person, but you can now file via email with the auditor’s office.  The county commissioner position that is currently held by Bruce Kooiman will be open as Kooiman has said he will not be running. There are also several positions on the Edgerton City Council that are up for re-election and the mayor of Edgerton does not plan to run.

The county board approved spending $5,900 for new plastic panels to be installed in the courthouse offices. The screens are 48-inches tall and will be framed with oak. There is a cutout at the bottom for passing documents back and forth. The offices of the auditor/treasurer, assessor, recorder, and probation offices in the courthouse will have these panels. The board also approved spending $2,000 to update the window area in the family services building.

For the next few weeks the courthouse and county building will remain closed to the public. When they do open, business will be conducted by appointment only.  To facilitate that, the county will be using the application called “No Wait Inside” to help customers make appointments for the offices they need to visit.

For the complete article, please see the May 20th edition of the Edgerton Enterprise. If you do not currently receive the Enterprise, CLICK HERE for information on how to subscribe! You can also visit our e-edition link to see the full paper FREE during the coronavirus crisis by CLICKING HERE!