As the election approaches, students need to register in Minneapolis before casting their ballots. Here’s how:
For students, the first step in the process of registering to vote is determining their residency, said Aaron Grossman, the election administration supervisor for Minneapolis. For students, that can be where they live when at school or where they live when on break.
“The advantage is that if you are living in Minneapolis and you feel invested in the community and want to have your voice heard, in order to vote, you need to be registered to vote and add an address that is in Minneapolis,” Grossman said. “But it’s really a choice, because there’s certainly other elections that are going on in other cities, and you’re only going to be able to vote in one of them.”
Students from Minnesota who want to vote in the upcoming election will need to change their residency to Minneapolis if they have not already. If they want to pre-register, they can go to mnvotes.org. To pre-register for the Minneapolis election, voters need four things: their name, date of birth, a Minneapolis address and an identification number such as a driver’s license number or Social Security number.
After voters have completed the pre-registration process, the county will send a postcard to verify that they can receive mail at the listed address. Residents can also go to the Office of Elections & Voter Services in person and fill out a paper form with the same information.
If voters choose to register on Nov. 2 when they are casting a ballot, they will need to bring something that shows proof of residency in Minneapolis to register. This can be an ID with a current address, a photo ID and a document that shows proof of residence such as a bill or current lease, a notice of late registration sent by the county or a registered voter who can vouch that they live at the address they have listed.
For students who previously lived out of state, they first have to prove they have lived in Minnesota for at least 20 days. These voters are also able to pre-register or register on the same day, as long as they bring proof of their residency.
Students who move addresses year-to-year will need to update their registration each time they move in order to be eligible to vote in the elections.
