The Life Argotic

Recently, I was a poll judge for the state primary elections. One of the things that opened my eyes was the number of people who were concerned about the upcoming presidential election. Some expressed it directly by asking what measures the city and state were taking to ensure safety and security at the November general election. Others were indirect, their fears showing through the questions of integrity and non-partisanship of the people working. That made me want to do something about it. To try and spread real information that could benefit peoples’ peace of mind. To be clear, there is nothing that I can do to fully assuage the fears of the upcoming election. The news cycle has had headlines describing the threats and dangers currently facing the election and voters and even to the election process in general through the so-called Project 2025 and other statements made by former President Trump. In fact, one of the major motivating factors that made me volunteer as a judge were the January news articles discussing the fear for the peaceful transfer of power and how several locations nationwide are worried about having enough people to work the polls. Therefore, I wanted to share the information that I have in hopes that at least someone will benefit. 

Minnesota makes it easy to vote. Extremely easy in fact. Some are afraid of losing integrity due to this (I’ll come to that later). Here are just a few of the options you have here in Minnesota.

1. Of course, you can vote in person. If you are registered to vote, you just need to show up. If you have moved recently or need to register, then you need your ID.
2. Early voting is allowed at your local elections office. Many city halls across the state also offer in person absentee voting where they will give you an absentee ballot and you cast your vote from there.
3. Absentee voting by mail is available for all MN residents eligible to vote, not just those who are out of state. You don’t need a reason to stay home, just to apply for one and vote. With that ballot, you can do two things.
   • First you could just mail it back in the envelope provided.
   • Second, city halls are offering ballot drop off boxes right outside their buildings where you can physically take your ballot if you feel the need for extra security.
4. Curbside voting is available for anyone in need or whose mobility issues cause them to be unable to stand in the lines or walk the mazes of buildings that we host elections in. Curbside voting is great because it takes two poll judges, one from each party, to register you, go back in and get your ballot, let you vote, and then deposit it into the counter.

Election Integrity: I.D.s 

I mentioned this earlier, but several voters made comments about the need to check identities, echoing a deep concern about voter fraud. MN does not require identification if you are already registered. All people who wish to register to vote do need an ID or several forms of ID to prove they are who they are and live where they say they live.

Second, we ask certain questions that help us ensure you are in our rolls. Questions like: “can you verify your address?” and, “what is your date of birth?” The same questions used at a pharmacy to dole out things like narcotics and barbiturates. Not only does this ensure that you are who you say you are, or claim to be, but it also makes sure we only hand out one ballot for that one person. Once you have cast that ballot, you cannot get another. So even if someone voted in your name, it would be noticed immediately upon you entering to vote as you would not be able to check-in again. 

This way of running elections without IDs has been going on in MN for a long time now with little to no significant errors or abuses. In fact, according to the Heritage Foundation, the same conservative think tank that created the 2025 project can show only 138 cases of voter fraud since 2004. Let me put that into perspective using the polling numbers from the secretary of state. Since 2004, over 26 million votes have been cast statewide. That is a total of 0.000521%. To put that into perspective, if you had a universal shrink ray and used it on an animal like a cow, that cow would shrink to the size of a pea. Moreover, of those 138 cases of voter fraud, 133 are cases of felons who attempted to vote (which by the way is legal now thanks to the new law as long as they are not currently serving time). 

In all, MN makes it extremely easy to vote and the process has been proven time and again for both effectiveness and integrity. For more information on voting in MN, visit the Secretary of State website where you can find everything from how we ensure only citizens vote to what happens between elections.