Election officials expect an increase in early voting this weekend

Lines formed at early voting locations in Minneapolis Friday afternoon. Municipalities across the state are expecting a surge in voting over the weekend ahead of Election Day on Tuesday.

“We’re equipped and ready and excited,” said Katie Smith, director of Elections and Voter Services for Minneapolis. “There’s a good energy in the air.”

The city has four permanent early voting locations that are expected to be filled by Election Day. Pop-ups also allowed people to vote in their neighborhood.

“It was very quick and painless,” said Nathaniel Allin-Churchill, who voted Friday at Grace-Trinity Community Church. “I think it’s great. It creates more opportunities for people to vote as quickly and easily as possible.”

The pop-up at the church marked the last one-day early voting event for the city. There have been 11 events since mid-October, including at the Capri Theater and the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

“They were really great,” Smith said. “We got a lot of positive feedback.”

According to Smith, the pop-ups are new this year as a result of a 2023 law change.

“This allows us to have polling locations that are not the same dates, times, times as our main locations,” she explained.

The landmark voting legislation also extended early voting hours to the two weekends before statewide general elections.

“From 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, voting is available in all 87 counties,” said Secretary of State Steve Simon. “Why don’t you just have one last burst of opportunity to vote, make sure it’s in the middle of the day on a Saturday, on a Sunday.”

According to Simon, voter turnout is already ahead of the last presidential election in 2016 before the pandemic.

“We run two to one, more than two to one,” he said. “I think we’re going to see some kind of growth in the last couple of days here.”

A quarter of Minneapolis voters, or about 65,000 people, have cast ballots so far.

“That’s a big turnout,” Smith said.

She advises voters who intended to send in a mail-in ballot because it likely won’t arrive in time in the mail.