Election Day is nearly here and Minnesotans are casting their ballots early in record numbers.

Nearly 729,000 people have voted already in person, by mail or through an absentee ballot as of Friday morning, according to data from the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office. That's considerably more than any other nonpresidential-year election in Minnesota. At this point in 2022, only 282,277 ballots had been cast.

The number for early voters by mail-in and in-person ballots could top 1 million voters by Election Day.

Minneapolis set an early voting record this year for a nonpresidential election, city officials said. The previous record was set in 2018. The city saw an 80 percent increase in early voting compared to 2022.

Outside of the Twin Cities metro area, access to early in-person voting locations can be limited. It’s common for counties in greater Minnesota to designate one early voting location, often a city hall, said Chisago County Treasurer Bridgitte S. Konrad.

“We're kind of at that stage where pretty soon we're probably going to have to consider other locations within the county to do absentee voting,” Konrad said. “Whether it's set up a satellite office or we work with some of the cities on the northern end of the county [that] are not some of our bigger cities.”

Chisago County tallied 2,685 early voters since mid-October, with most of that coming in Lindstrom and Chisago City

The highest turnout in Chisago County is coming from early voters in Chisago City and Lindstrom, which Konrad says makes sense since they're in a more convenient location to the government center.

Chisago, Isanti, Benton and Morrison counties each have one in-person, early-voting location, despite having some of the largest populations among counties with limited early-voting access.

On Election Day, more polling locations open at schools, recreation centers, libraries and other public spaces starting at 7 a.m.

Residents in Chisago County like early voting for its convenience and ability to avoid potentially long lines on Election Day, Konrad said — despite minimal in-person early voting locations.

“They feel it's quicker and easier. And so far this year, it has been,” Konrad said.

Voters can also register as an absentee voter and select the mail-in ballot option. Absentee voters can still deliver their ballot in person at a polling location listed in their county.

Early voting ends on Monday. Election Day is Tuesday.

Collected from Minnesota Public Radio News. View original source here.