The Minnesota primary elections on Tuesday will give voters a chance to choose the candidates who’ll represent their party in November. The DFL’s race is the most heated, with three well-known candidates vying for the party’s nomination.
Polls are open Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. in most cases and voters can register the day of the election, according to the Minnesota Secretary of State’s website. To register at a polling place, voters need to bring a valid form of identification and proof of residency in the precinct, or a witness to vouch for them. A full list of accepted materials can be found here.
Voters interested in finding their local polling place can use the website’s “pollfinder” application.
Some polling places located close to campus are Grace Lutheran Church on Washington Avenue Southeast, Coffman Union, and Van Cleave Park.
Absentee ballots, which became available June 25, are due Monday. The number of absentee ballots submitted this year increased between 10 and 20 percent over past years, Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie said.
Ritchie said he expects decreased turnout this year because there is only one contested gubernatorial race out of the three major parties.
For students, it’s important to keep coming out, Ritchie said.  In the last three elections, student turnout has increased.
“If we can keep going on increasing student and young adult participation, politicians of all kinds … will take students and young adults as a serious component of the electorate.”