...and why is it important?
Election Day Registration is a process that has existed in Minnesota since 1974 that allows a voter who goes to their polling place on Election Day and is not on the list of registered voters, to register and vote on Election Day with proof of identity and residency. After Election Day the registration is verified by the county elections office and entered on the Minnesota Statewide Voter Registration System (SVRS).
Some reasons that people might need to register, or change an existing registration, on Election Day include:
Students who have been out of the area at college and have not registered;
Relocating within Minnesota and have not updated their voter registration; this can include:
Young people moving away from how or changing living arrangements;
Newly married couples;
Aging parents moving in with adult children;
Older adults recently relocated to new senior living arrangements;
People relocating due to housing insecurity such as eviction or transitional housing arrangements; and
Couples who have moved in together;
Correct erroneous voter registration information (data entry errors or errors due to legibility of prior paper voter registrations);
Name changes due to marriage or other personal events;
Potential or infrequent voters who may not have voted in the past.
In the 2020 General Election 18.8% of those voting in person, over 259,000 people, used Election Day Registration.