Know Before You Go: A Guide to Burnsville's Primary Election

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• What will be on the ballot, exactly?

The purpose of the primary is to narrow the field for the general election in November. For non-partisan races like the bid for mayor or city council, that means those who take the top two percentages will face off again in November, while the rest will be eliminated from the field. For partisan races—state and federal contests—only one candidate from each party will go on to November. School board is not included in the primary. In fact, , though the deadline is close at hand—5 p.m. tomorrow, Aug. 14. 

• Who are the candidates?

Non-partisan Races

Burnsville Mayor 

• Bill David Ansari—Ansari works customer service with Continental/United Airlines. In his statement to the Sun Thisweek, he said he would like to make Burnsville a tourist destination, primarily by making it easier to start up a restaurant or hotel in the city. Click here to see Ansari's own website.
• Elizabeth Kautz—Kautz has been in office since 1995. When making her case, Kautz says that the city's financial position is stronger than ever and that the town is "heading in the right direction." Click here to see her website.
• Jerry Willenburg—Willenburg, Kautz's , is back in the race. He describes himself as atypical among politicians and a "Common Sense Conservative." He is vocal about his continued opposition to the , which was a project Kautz supported. Click here to see Willenburg's website.

Burnsville City Council 

• Rochell Ansari
• James Cammarato
• Steve Cherney
• Richard Hoel
• Bruce Johnson
• Pat Madden
• Suzanne Nguyen
• Mary Sherry

County Commission District 5 

• Peter Beckel, who described himself as a financial investor to the Pioneer Press. Beckel's said his focus is cutting spending. If elected, he told the PiPress that he would cut spending for county departments by 2 percent, though his campaign's Facebook page outlines budget-slashing of a more drastic nature: On it, he writes of cutting 10 percent from every department and abolishing county property taxes, which pay for the court system and libraries, among other things. 
• David Giles, a county employee who works for the transportation department. Giles has no prior political experience, but he is active in the community, volunteering with the Savage-Prior Lake Council of the Knights of Columbus and the Burnsville Fire Muster. According to a brief summary in the Pioneer Press, he wants to give residents a greater voice on the board and spoke of bringing light rail to the county.
• Liz Workman (Incumbent)—Workman has one term on the commission under her belt so far. She also served on the Burnsville City Council for 12 years and an additional five years on the city's Parks and Natural Resources Commission (You can also see Workman's profile on LinkedIn).

Partisan Races

State House District 51A, DFL

• Sandra Masin

U.S. Congress District 2, GOP

• David Gerson
• John Kline

U.S. Senator, DFL

• Dick Franson
• Amy Klobuchar (Incumbent)
• Jack Edward Shepard
• Darryl Stanton

U.S. Senator, GOP

• Kurt Bills (Endorsed)
• David Carlson
• Bob Carney Jr.

U.S. Senator, Independence Party

• Glen R. Anderson Menze
• Stephen Williams

• When does voting begin? 

Voting locations will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

• Do I need to register? 

Yes, and if you plan to vote in the GOP or DFL primaries you must designate yourself as a party member. You cannot vote in the DFL primary if you are a registered GOP member, and vice-versa. Find out what your registration status is here: http://mnvotes.sos.state.mn.us/VoterStatus.aspx. For now, it is possible to register on the day of the election at your polling place if you bring a government-issue ID and two bills with your current address on them to prove residence. 

• Where do I vote?

Here's a citywide map of precincts and polling places. Precinct boundaries have changed due to legislative that went into effect earlier this year. If you're not sure which precinct you fall into, use the Minnesota Secretary of State's Polling Place Finder.

If all else fails, here's a list of all the precincts in town, with links to a map app:

Precinct 1 - Sioux Trail Elementary School, 2802 River Hills Dr. [map]

Precinct 2 - St. James Lutheran Church, 3650 Williams Dr. [map]

Precinct 3 - Vista View Elementary School, 13109 County Rd. 5 [map]

Precinct 4 - Sky Oaks Elementary School, 100 E. 134th St. [map]

*Precinct 5 - Eden Baptist Church, 1313 Highway 13 [map]

Precinct 6 - William Byrne Elementary School, 11608 River Hills Dr. [map]

Precinct 7 - Neill Elementary, 13409 Upton Ave. S. [map]

Precinct 8 - Burnsville City Hall, 100 Civic Center Parkway [map]

*Precinct 9 - Gideon Pond Elementary School, 613 E. 130th St. [map]

Precinct 10 - Mary, Mother of the Church, 3333 E. Cliff Rd. [map]

Precinct 11 - Crossroads Church, 14300 Burnsville Pkwy. [map]

Precinct 12 - Grace United Methodist Church, 15309 Maple Island Rd. [map]

Precinct 13 - Berean Baptist Church, 309 E. County Rd 42 [map]

Precinct 14 - Echo Park Elementary, 14100 County Rd. 11 [map]

Precinct 15 - Episcopal Church of the Nativity, 15601 Maple Island Rd. [map]

Precinct 16 - Buck Hill Ski Resort, 15400 Buck Hill Rd. [map]

*Precinct 17 - Dakota County Library, 1101 W. County Rd 42 [map]

* Indicates that this is a new polling place.

• How can I keep track of results? 

You can watch the Dakota County web site, which will be periodically updated throughout the night, or you can check Burnsville Patch for updates—on the site, on Twitter, and on Facebook.