MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (GRAY) – Secretary of State Steve Simon visited a Minneapolis voting precinct Tuesday morning in hopes of encouraging voters to get out to the polls and cast their ballots.
“The polling stations are open until 8 p.m. Remember: If you are in line and there is still a line at 8 p.m., you are (still) allowed to cast your vote,” Simon said in a speech outside the polling station.
During his visit, the Secretary of State also provided some insights into the election security process.
Minnesota requires public accuracy tests before each state election, and a comprehensive system will flag invalid ballots. Simon specifically cited the seemingly common example of someone who has already voted by mail and is now trying to cast a physical ballot.
“That person will be flagged. Next to their name on the voter list will literally be the word ‘AB’, which means they voted by mail. And of course they are not allowed to vote. So we have a good system and a good track record of checking things like that,” he said.
Logistics aside, Simon said the primaries are a good practice session for the general election in November.
“This is an opportunity to fix or address any bugs, quirks or problems in the system. We haven’t heard much about it in Minnesota so far, but it really is an opportunity, especially for the poll workers and poll workers,” he said.
Poll workers and poll workers are not always immediately available. Simon said the state needs about 30,000 employees to fully staff a state election. On Tuesday morning, Simon seemed confident about staffing levels at polling places.
Although these are often paid positions, poll workers say they can always use extra help from both political camps.
“They’re always looking (for people), they’re always looking for a partisan balance. There are jobs for which we need people from different parties,” said Sean Kennedy, chief elections officer of a Minneapolis precinct.
Kennedy says there are certain tasks that require both a Republican and a Democrat to accomplish.
“If you’re going to take a vote to help someone, by state law you need someone from each party just to make sure there’s a balance between the parties, because you’re doing something with a vote,” Kennedy said.
Simon says primary turnout isn’t usually tied to general election turnout. Early voting for the November election begins Sept. 20.
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