ISD 200 is officially looking for its next school board member.

The two-week filing period for candidates for the ISD 200 school board opened on July 29 and will remain open through Tuesday, August 12 at 5 p.m. Candidates must submit an affidavit of candidacy during this filing period in order to appear on the ballot in November.

Various requires for applicants include being 21-years old upon assuming office, eligible to vote in Minnesota, a resident of the school district for at least 30 days before the election and not being a sex offender.

Affidavits of Candidacy are available on the school’s website, as well as at the district office at the middle school. Completed affidavits must be filed at the district office before 5 p.m. on August 12.

The winner of the November Election would start on the school board January 5, 2026.

The seat is currently occupied by Elaine Mikel-Mulder who will serve through the end of the year. Mikel-Mulder was seated after the death of Jenny Wiederholt-Pine in February.

Mikel-Mulder would not say if she was going to run in November, citing time commitments of her job and family.

The election comes a year after the school board switched to even-year elections in order to save on the burdensome costs and protracted staff time of putting on their own election during odd-numbered years.

The adopted budget for 2025-2026 sets aside $10,827 for the election budget.

Due to the costs and staff time of putting on their own election, board members had previously discussed having only a single polling place, a change that was estimated in March was estimated to save the district roughly $12,000.

The board decided instead on five polling places, citing concerns over potential voter suppression due to long wait and travel times that might arise from a single polling place.

For example, in the 2023 special election for the school board, some 6000 residents cast their votes across six sites. That volume of voters for a single location could create significant wait times.

To this point Chair Carrie Tate also worried about the travel times of some district residents: “For some people in our district, it’s gonna take them 40 minutes to come vote,” said Tate at the March 12 school board meeting.

The five polling locations are:

• Hope Lutheran Church
• Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church
• United Methodist Church
• Philip’s Lutheran Church
• John’s Lutheran Church

Absentee voting begins September 19 with in-person absentee voting running through November 3 at 5 p.m.

Election Judges

The district is also looking for election judges. Election judges oversee the voting process across polling places throughout the day.

Students ages 16-17 can also work as election judges if they have school and parental permission, are in good academic standing, and are a US citizen.

Applications to be an election judge in November can be found on the district website under the tab school district elections.

The election will take place November 4, 2025 from 7 a.m. – 8 p.m.