Lawmakers end push to open voting early

Minnesota Democrats are giving up for the year on a push to change election law so people could start voting weeks before Election Day.

The early voting measure was stripped from a Senate elections bill that passed unanimously Wednesday night. Many Republicans are resistant to the idea of setting up voting machines weeks in advance, and Gov. Mark Dayton says he won't sign election law changes that lack bipartisan support.

Thirty-two states, including all of Minnesota's neighbors, offer some form of early voting where people don't have to have an excuse for casting a ballot early. In most cases, ballots are fed straight into a counting machine, although the actual votes are not tabulated until polls close.

A House bill still in play would allow for no-excuse absentee voting.