Minnesota Early Voting Runs Far Ahead of 2022 Pace, Officials and DFL Say

Early voting in Minnesota is running well ahead of the last midterm. Secretary of State Steve Simon said early vote totals were about 48 percent higher than at the same point four years ago, FOX 9 reported, with about 420,000 people having voted by Oct. 23, most of them in the Twin Cities area.

The Minnesota DFL announced Thursday that more than 659,000 people had cast ballots, 64 percent more than at this point in 2022, KTTC reported. KTTC said it had asked the Secretary of State’s office to verify the party’s figure, and the figure is a party claim that was not independently confirmed. State parties receive weekly totals from the office, which often publishes them on Friday mornings, KTTC reported.

Simon cautioned that it is too early to conclude overall turnout will be higher. Hamline University political scientist David Schultz said the pattern suggests Democratic enthusiasm but noted Republicans tend to vote on Election Day. Minnesota does not track early votes by party, FOX 9 reported. Minneapolis has already passed its record for pre-Election Day votes in a midterm.