Anyone know why Minnesota doesn't have early voting?

[trotsky]

Seems to me like MN would be the kind of state to jump on that sort of thing, especially since our turnout consistently leads the nation. (Spread out all those voters, make it easier on polling places.) Has it ever been proposed in the legislature?

[Eric J in MN]

1. We do. It's called absentee-voting-in-person.

But I think you need an excuse, the same as with absentee-voting-by-mail.

[jean]

2. you can say you'll be out of the precinct that day - for instance if

you're going to canvass last minute or work phone banks.

[trotsky]

5. Yeah, that's the catch.

Needing an excuse. I really think we should have the ability to vote early no matter what. The last couple elections have had some pretty significant turnout in my precinct - I can only imagine what it's going to be like next Tuesday.

[goodhue]

6. Not really much of a catch.

I voted on last Friday and did not need to articulate an excuse.

My reasonable expectation that I would be unable to go polling place on election day because of absence from precint was kept between me, msyelf and I.

Hennepin County will be open this Saturday for absentee voting.

The statute provides:

Any eligible voter who reasonably expects to be unable to go to the polling place on election day in the precinct where the individual maintains residence because of absence from the precinct, illness, disability, religious discipline, observance of a religious holiday, or service as an election judge in another precinct may vote by absentee ballot.

http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/stats/203B/02.html

[Pig_Latin_Lover]

3. Probably because it's too easy here

Since our state allows you to register at the polls, and most other states with absentee voting require registration in advance, I think the idea is to avoid the ability to register in one precint, vote early there, then register in another a week later at the polls.

[Thegonagle]

4. That's basically correct. Because early voting would require. . .

. . . the exact same process of verification as used for absentee ballots, they're not going to create a new name (Early Voting) for what amounts to the same thing, procedure-wise, as absentee voting.

Mail-in and in-person absentee ballots are not counted early; they're held until the precinct polls are closed. Then they're verified before they're counted: if you sign the roll in your precinct or register to vote in a different precinct on election day, the original absentee ballot will be discarded.

The absentee verification process can make it take several days to call the results in close races where the margin of victory on election night is less than the total number of absentee ballots cast. AFAIK, official certified results always take a few days because of absentee verification. (And in very, very, very close races, "automatic" recounts are conducted, by law, in which all ballots are rescanned. This can slow down certification even further.)

It's late and I might not be writing clearly, so let me know if you need me to clarify anything. I know a bit about MN elections, and what I don't know, I can probably find out.