This plan is for candidates for town supervisor and town treasurer in Minnesota towns (townships) that hold their town election in March. The election is on Tuesday, March 9, 2027, together with the annual town meeting. The plan runs in six phases: you prepare in November and December 2026, file between Tuesday, December 29, 2026 and Tuesday, January 12, 2027, meet voters in January, push registration and absentee voting in February, work the final two weeks, and then come election day and the week after.
Town races are short, with only eight weeks between the close of filing and election day, so most of the preparation has to happen before filing opens. The 2027 dates below are calculated from the Minnesota Statutes and marked "based on state law," so confirm them with your town clerk. Door counts, household numbers and weekly goals are examples only, so set your own from the size of your town and the time you have. For the rules behind each step, see our guide to running for local office in Minnesota.
The dates this plan is built on
- Sunday, November 15, 2026: the first day a Campaign Verify request lasts until January 31, 2029 (only if you plan to text).
- Tuesday, December 15, 2026 (based on state law): last day for the town clerk to publish the notice of filing dates.
- Tuesday, December 29, 2026 (based on state law): filing opens with the town clerk.
- Tuesday, January 12, 2027 (based on state law): filing closes. The clerk's office is open from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
- Thursday, January 14, 2027, 5 p.m. (based on state law): last day to withdraw.
- Early February 2027: in-person absentee voting runs during the 30 days before the election. Ask your clerk or county auditor for the first day, place and hours.
- Tuesday, February 16, 2027 (based on state law): last day to register before election day (5 p.m. in person or by mail, 11:59 p.m. online). Voters may also register at the polls on election day.
- Tuesday, March 9, 2027 (based on state law): town election and annual town meeting.
- Tuesday, March 16, 2027 (based on state law): backup date if the clerk postpones for storm warnings or travel advisories.
Our Minnesota 2027 local election calendar lists these dates with the city and school district dates for the rest of the year.
Phase 1: Prepare (weeks of November 9 to December 21, 2026)
Use these weeks to remove every obstacle to filing, because the filing window crosses the holidays.
- Weeks of November 9 and November 16. Call your town clerk. Confirm that your town votes in March, which seats are on the 2027 ballot (normally one supervisor seat, plus treasurer where that office is elected), and whether any seat is a shortened term because of a vacancy. Confirm that you will be at least 21 when you take office and that you will have lived in the town for at least 30 days before March 9.
- Week of November 23. Check that your driver's license or state ID shows the address where you live. The clerk must not accept an affidavit whose address does not match your document (Minn. Stat. 204B.06). If it does not match, update it or gather another document accepted as proof of residence for election day registration.
- Week of November 30. Decide between the $2 filing fee and a petition in place of it. If you want a petition, ask the clerk for a sample form and for the number of signatures, which is the lesser of 500 or 5 percent of the votes cast at the last town election at which the office was on the ballot. If you plan to text supporters, form your committee and get an EIN now.
- Weeks of December 7 and December 14. Write a short statement of why you are running and what you would work on. As an example, list 30 people in the town who might help, sign up for updates or host a neighbor at their kitchen table. Watch for the clerk's notice of filing dates, due by December 15.
- Week of December 21. Ask the clerk for the affidavit of candidacy form, and arrange a time to file during the first week of the window, since office hours may be limited around the holidays. If your town clerk has arranged for filing with the county auditor, confirm the place.
Phase 2: File and announce (weeks of December 28, 2026 to January 11, 2027)
- Week of December 28. Filing opens on Tuesday, December 29. File your affidavit with the town clerk, show your ID, and pay the $2 fee or present your petition. Filing early leaves time to fix a problem. Keep a copy of everything you file.
- Week of January 4. Tell the 30 people on your list first, then announce more widely at community gatherings and by word of mouth. Bring a sign-up sheet everywhere, with a line that plainly asks whether the person agrees to receive campaign texts and a place for the date.
- Week of January 11. Filing closes on Tuesday, January 12, and the withdrawal deadline is 5 p.m. on Thursday, January 14. After that, no candidate may withdraw.
Phase 3: Meet the voters (weeks of January 18 to February 1)
These three weeks are the main time for visiting households before absentee voting opens.
- Plan your areas. List the roads and neighborhoods in the town and group them into areas you can cover in an afternoon. Ask your county auditor how to obtain a list of registered voters in your town. If a few volunteers help, Beacon, a door-to-door canvassing app, lets you draw those areas as turf on a map, assign each to a volunteer, give them walk lists ordered by distance, and record a result at each door, such as contacted, not home or come back later.
- Set a weekly goal. As an example only: if your town has 400 households and you and one volunteer each visit 70 a week, you would reach every household in about three weeks.
- Attend the town board meeting. Listen to the matters the board is handling and the questions residents raise, so you can speak to them at the door.
- Collect permission as you go. When someone wants to help or hear more, ask whether they would like campaign texts, and have them sign up on a sheet or form that says plainly they agree to receive campaign texts, with the date recorded.
Phase 4: Registration and absentee voting (weeks of February 8 and February 15)
- Week of February 8. In-person absentee voting is under way during the 30 days before the election. Tell supporters where and when they can vote early, using the hours your clerk or county auditor has published.
- Week of February 15. The last day to register before election day is Tuesday, February 16, based on state law. Remind supporters who have moved to update their registration. Anyone who misses the deadline can still register at the polls on March 9 with proof of residence.
Phase 5: The final two weeks (weeks of February 22 and March 1)
- Return to undecided households from Phase 3, starting with those who asked you a question.
- Confirm election day help. Decide which volunteers will remind supporters on March 9, and ask your clerk for the polling place hours so you give supporters the right times.
- Prepare for the annual town meeting. The meeting is held on election day. Watch for the clerk's notice of its time and place, and ask the clerk what business is expected.
Text your supporters in February and on election day
A short reminder before the registration deadline and on March 9 helps supporters remember to vote. Because the campaign is short, set texting up in CampaignCNX+ in November or December.
- Committee and Campaign Verify. Campaign Verify confirms to the carriers (the mobile phone companies) that a political sender is a real campaign. It needs a 527 committee (the federal tax status of a political committee) with an EIN (the committee's federal tax ID number) and a filing with an election authority that is published online. Ask your town clerk or county auditor whether your committee's filing is posted online, and ask Campaign Verify Support if it is not. It costs $95. A request made before November 15, 2026 expires on January 31, 2027, before your election, so request on or after November 15. Campaign Verify decides eligibility.
- Registration. CampaignCNX+ files your carrier registration, as 10DLC (the registration for texting from a standard local-style number) or toll-free, and files your Campaign Verify token with it. For a toll-free number, the carrier review usually takes about three business days.
- Your supporter group. Add only the people who agreed in writing on your sign-up sheets, and record the consent date and source in a custom field. Signing a fee petition is not consent to texts.
- Scheduled reminders. Schedule texts for the week of February 8, February 16 and March 9. Texts send only between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the recipient's time zone, and STOP replies are handled automatically. For example:
Hi [First name], it's [Name], running for Town Supervisor. Registration before election day closes Tue, Feb 16. Reply STOP to opt out.
Today is the town election. If you are not registered yet, you can register at your polling place. Thank you, [Name]
100 free SMS included. Your number is $5 a month. For more wording, see our campaign text templates for local races, and for texting rules across the region, see campaign texting in the Midwest.
Phase 6: Election day and the week after
- Tuesday, March 9. Vote, attend the annual town meeting if you can, and thank your volunteers by name.
- If the weather turns. If the clerk postpones the election and meeting because of storm warnings or travel advisories, they move to Tuesday, March 16, 2027, based on state law, and the decision must be made at least three hours before the polls open. Have a text ready to send if that happens.
- The week of March 15. Whatever the result, thank the people who helped. If you won, ask the clerk when you take office and what the board expects of a new supervisor or treasurer. Our guide on how to run for township supervisor in Minnesota covers the office in more detail.
Begin this month
The candidates who have the easiest December are the ones who confirmed their seat, their address and their filing plan in November. Start Phase 1 now. When you are ready to keep your supporters informed through February and on election day, start a CampaignCNX+ trial.
