“The ballots are scanned. the machine reads them and stores the information. Then, at 8 p.m. on election night, we hit tabulate. And that’s when we get all the results,” deputy auditor Heather Bestler said.

Not every state has this opportunity to count ballots early. So when you hear Secretary of State Steve Simon say Minnesota’s in a relatively good position to turn results quickly, this is what illustrates that.

The counting room is open every weekday from now through Nov. 10, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.