15 Democrats Make Minnesota's Super Tuesday Primary Ballot

ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO/AP) — Fifteen Democrats will be on Minnesota's Super Tuesday presidential primary ballot, the state party announced Tuesday.

The long Democratic ballot will contrast with the Minnesota GOP ballot, which will list only President Donald Trump, though party officials say they'll provide an opportunity for voters to write in other candidates.

The Democratic candidates will include Minnesota's senior senator, Amy Klobuchar. Also on the ballot will be leading candidates like former Vice President Joe Biden, Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, and Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana.

But the list also includes candidates who've struggled to get attention in the crowded field, such as environmentalist businessman Tom Steyer, author Marianne Williamson and entrepreneur Andrew Yang.

Two late entries — former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick — also made Minnesota's ballot.

Minnesota did away with its caucus system after a rough caucus night in 2016. There were very long lines and at a St. Paul caucus, they even ran out of ballots and were using index cards.

One major difference this year in the primary is voters will have to declare when you get to the voting place or request an absentee ballot which primary, Republican or Democrat, you want to vote in. The information with which party's primary you voted in will be sent to the individual parties.

The Secretary of State has also taken precautions to make sure voter's ballots will not be compromised. Minnesota is one of 21 states that the Russians unsuccessfully tried to hack in 2016.

"I think it's worth noting that in 2016 Minnesota was one of the 21 states whose election system was targeted by a foreign government," "So what we have done is we've put to use some federal money that we got this year, we're redoing our state database, recoding that, making it more secure," said Steve Simon, Minnesota Secretary of State.

Minnesota's presidential primary will be Tuesday, March 3, a day when 14 states hold primaries. The contests will account for more than a third of the Democrats' pledged delegates.