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Election officials expect MN will once again rank No. 1 in nation for midterm voter turnout

With just four weeks to spare before the midterm elections, Secretary of State Steve Simon says early voting this year is proving to be no exception.

ST PAUL, Minn. — It's no secret Minnesota knows how to show up and show out when it comes to voter turnout during elections. 

"We've been No. 1 in the country three elections in a row," said Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon. 

With just four weeks to spare before the midterms, Secretary Simon says early voting this year is proving to be no exception. 

"Ultimately that leads to Minnesota being first in the country in turnout. We hope that will be the same result this time," he said.

Early voting began on Sept. 23 and so far this year, of the 343,000-plus ballots requested, nearly 50,000 have been cast — compared to the 239,000 requested with only 43,000 cast at this stage in the 2018 midterms. 

"People really are engaged, I think they're in tune, they're listening, they're ready to vote."

On Tuesday, state election officials launched a step-by-step video on how to vote in Minnesota, which is especially important to note during a redistricting year.

"Every year ending in two is a year like that," explained Secretary Simon. 

This means for some, polling locations may have changed. 

"So we urge people if they have any question about where to vote, if they plan on voting on Election Day, to go to our website, which is MNvotes.gov. They can type in their address and they can find out if their polling place has changed," said Simon. 

Election officials say they hope those changes won't impact turnout — which continues to keep Minnesota ahead of the rest. 

"We have our eyes on the ball and we're working together as a team — our office and local elections administrators, and counties and cities — and we feel good," said Simon. 

To access the KARE 11 Voters' Toolkit for everything you need to know, from early voting to key races to watch, click here.

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