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The 2023 Legislature did a lot on election laws. Here’s a (nearly) comprehensive look.
The Minnesota Legislature passed three bills that affect election administration, and Gov. Tim Walz signed them all. I’ll try to focus on major changes to elections policy. Broadly speaking, the bills expand the franchise, remove obstacles to voting, increase transparency, and reinforce the state’s rejection of any interference with the voting process. The lies surrounding […]
What ChatGPT can teach us about election misinformation
I don’t want to suggest you’ve been living under a rock, but it’s my responsibility to start this article with some basic facts. There’s software on the loose called ChatGPT that can carry on remarkably lifelike dialogues including issuing authoritative-sounding pronouncements on just about any topic. Some of those pronouncements are even correct. A new […]
Your questions about the Minnesota election system, answered
Editor’s note: Since April we’ve been running a series of articles by Max Hailperin explaining how the Minnesota election system works. Now we’re answering your (and our) questions about election administration. Read the first set of questions here. We shouldn’t entirely trust the results on election night. Those are unofficial results, or as I prefer to […]
Your questions about the Minnesota election system, answered, part 1
Editor’s note: Since April we’ve been running a series of articles by Max Hailperin explaining how the Minnesota election system works. Today and tomorrow, we’re answering your (and our) questions about election administration. Welcome to voting! It sounds like there’s a good chance you aren’t registered. That’s fine because you can register at the time […]
Minnesota election administration explained: Recounts and election contests
This is part of an occasional series on election administration. Read part 1, “Who does what?” Part 2, “Who can vote in Minnesota?” Part 3: “How and why polling places are computerized.” Part 4: “How absentee voting works.” Part 5: “Reconciliation.” Part 6: “Post-election checks.” Elections don’t just identify winners. They also persuade losers that they have lost. A recent high-profile loser […]
Minnesota election administration explained: post-election checks
This is part of an occasional series on election administration. Read part 1, “Who does what?” Part 2, “Who can vote in Minnesota?” Part 3: “How and why polling places are computerized.” Part 4: “How absentee voting works.” Part 5: “Reconciliation.” Election officials do their best to get results out on election night or the next morning, but always with […]
Election administration explained: Reconciliation
This is part of an occasional series on election administration. Read part 1, “Who does what?” Part 2, “Who can vote in Minnesota?” Part 3: “How and why polling places are computerized.” Part 4: “How absentee voting works.” Election workers count. Not just in the figurative sense of mattering, but in the literal sense of one, two, three. […]
Election administration explained: How absentee voting works
This is part of an occasional series on election administration. Read part 1, “Who does what?” Part 2, “Who can vote in Minnesota?” And Part 3: “How and why polling places are computerized.” Every Minnesota voter has the option to vote absentee, whether they do it by mail or in person at their local elections […]
Election administration explained: How and why polling places are computerized
This is part of an occasional series on election administration. Read part 1, “Who does what?” And part 2, “Who can vote in Minnesota?” Architects consider the people who will use a space, the structural elements that will give that space stability, and the surfaces that people will see and interact with, down to the […]
Elections explained: Who can vote in Minnesota?
This is part of an occasional series on election administration. Who can vote in Minnesota? That’s a simple question with three not-so-simple answers: a constitutional answer, a legal answer, and a realistic answer. The constitution defines who is eligible. The law specifies the procedures voters must follow to demonstrate their eligibility. And the reality is […]
Elections explained: Who does what?
Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of columns between now and Election Day by Max Hailperin, who will guide Reformer readers through the mechanics of election administration. You turn a tap and clean water pours out. You cast a ballot and election results get announced. And just as you don’t need to […]
Minnesota’s tradition of one-stop voting must be protected | Opinion
Let’s talk about one-stop voting — the idea that anyone meeting the fundamental eligibility criteria for voting can do so with only a single interaction with the government. Minnesota’s tradition of one-stop voting predates the state’s founding: The 1851 territorial legislature provided that all who swore to their eligibility and were not proven ineligible could […]