Minneapolis expands early voting hours, locations ahead of Election Day
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Minneapolis is expanding early voting hours and adding pop-up polling places ahead of Election Day. Mayor Jacob Frey said the one-day voting locations, which started Monday, are a way to ensure voting access for residents.
“We're seeing efforts to restrict access to the ballot and concerns about whether election officials can do their job without intimidation or interference, and so Minneapolis — we're taking a very different approach,” Frey said Monday at a pop-up voting location.
Election Day is about two weeks away, but Minnesota voters have been able to vote early for the past month either by mail or in person.
Turnout has been high so far. More than 200,000 ballots were cast in the first four weeks of voting, according to the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office. That’s more than the approximately 170,000 ballots that were cast in the first four weeks of voting during the 2022 election — the last midterm election.
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Patricia Danielson and Tom Bauer cast their votes Monday at the Webber Community Center, the first of 12 pop-up voting locations in Minneapolis. They decided to vote early after receiving a mailer from the city advertising the pop-up.
“I didn't trust my ballot in the mail,” Danielson said.
In September, the Supreme Court blocked Republican President Donald Trump’s latest efforts to restrict mail-in voting.
“The line was relatively short, and they were very well organized, and everything just went along nice and smooth,” Bauer said.
Minnesotans can still vote early by mail, but the Secretary of State’s Office recommends voters apply for an absentee ballot before Oct. 20. Ballots must be received by Election Day, either by mail or in person.
The deadline to register to vote has passed, but Minnesotans can register to vote at their voting location when they vote.
Minneapolis voters can find out where to vote early in person here. Early voting information for every county in the state can be found here.
