When you head to the polls on election day, you might notice some changes. New election laws have gone into effect in the past year.  

For instance, Minnesota now has automatic voter registration, which means eligible voters who apply for or renew a state ID will automatically be registered to vote.

Also, this year, the state is increasing language access. All voting locations must have voting instructions available in Hmong, Spanish and Somali, and some precincts will have translated sample ballots and translation services.

Finally, absentee voting will look and feel more like election-day voting. This year, in-person absentee voters can choose to place their ballots directly into the tabulator 18 days before an election.

Additionally, absentee ballot processing can begin earlier, also 18 days before an election.

Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon says all of these changes are designed to make it more convenient to vote.

“In Minnesota, we have always said we don’t want to make voting an obstacle course. We want to make it accessible. We want to make it easy to understand for people who are eligible to vote,” he said.

The state has also extended weekend voting hours in the weeks leading up to the election. For more information on voting, CLICK HERE.