Election day is almost here – do you know what is on your ballot and how you’ll vote? Besides the highly publicized races, there are smaller races on your ballot you might need to research before heading to the polls. Short on time? Here’s a quick guide to help you make informed choices on election day.

Note: This guide is intended for Minnesota residents and will be particularly helpful for those living in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul and surrounding suburbs (Hennepin and Ramsey counties).

1. Preview Your Ballot

Go to the My Ballot page of the Minnesota Secretary of State website and enter your address to see the list of candidates and questions on your ballot. There’s a button you can click to view (and print) a sample ballot.

Tip: Every election year, I print my sample ballot, fill it out as I research the candidates, and take it with me to the polls. (When printing the ballot, I scale it to 61 percent so the full ballot will print on a standard-sized sheet of paper.)

2. Research Your Choices

You can click the candidates’ names listed on your screen (from the first step) to peruse the candidates’ websites and see where they stand on issues that are important to you; below are some other sources I recommend.

Major Race Candidates

MPR Voter Guide and Matching Quizzes – Minnesota Public Radio provides comparison info for the U.S. Senator, U.S. Representative, Governor and Minnesota Attorney General races. For each race:

• • The voter guide compares where the candidates stand on key issues. MPR offers the voter guides in Somali, Hmong and Spanish, as well as English.

• There’s a quiz you can take to match you with the candidate who’s most aligned with your views on key issues (you won’t know which candidate you match on each question – you may be surprised by the result at the end). 

Star Tribune Voter Guide – Easy to read side-by-side comparisons of major race candidates by issue, including bios (with summary of positions) for the Auditor and Secretary of State candidates.

While these resources are great, they don’t include the smaller races on your ballot. Below are links to articles about and debates between the candidates running in those races.

Secretary of State Candidates

• • MPR article focuses on where the candidates stand on voting laws (ID, absentee)

• Duluth News Tribune article compares the candidates’ views on several topics

State Auditor Candidates

• • MPR article

• • Pioneer Press article

• WCCO Interviews with Julie Blaha and Pam Myhra

Hennepin County Sheriff Candidates

• • Soutwest Journal article

• MinnPost article

Ramsey County Sheriff Candidates

• • Pioneer Press article

• Star Tribune article

Hennepin County Attorney Candidates

• • Star Tribune article

• • MPR article

• MinnPost article

Ramsey County Attorney Candidates

• • Pioneer Press article

• Lillie News article

MN Supreme Court Associate Justice 2 Candidates

• Star Tribune article

MN Court of Appeals Judge 2 Candidates

• • Brainerd Dispatch article

• Eagan TV videos for Jesson and Brown

Additional Candidates

If there additional races on your ballot you want to research, visit the candidates’ websites or type the candidates’ names into an online search engine (e.g., “Elkins and Sikich”).

Debates

If you’d like to watch or listen to candidate debates:

• • Governor – Walz and Johnson KSTP Debate

• • Secretary of State – Howe and Simon Channel 5 Debate (4:00-15:00)

• • State Auditor – Blaha and Myhra Channel 5 Podcast Debate (10/21 episode, 5:22-16:11)

• • State Attorney General – Wardlow and Ellison KSTP Debate

• • U.S. Senator – Klobuchar and Newberger KSTP Debate

• • U.S. Senator – Housley and Smith WCCO Debate

• • U.S. Rep District 1 – Feehan and Hagedorn C-SPAN Debate

• • U.S. Rep District 2 – Lewis and Craig KSTP Debate

• • U.S. Rep District 3 – Phillips and Paulsen KSTP Debate

• • U.S. Rep District 4 – Ryan and McCollum MPR Debate (audio)

• • U.S. Rep District 5 – Omar and Zielinksi MPR Debate (audio)

• • U.S. Rep District 6 – Emmer and Todd KSTP Debate

• • U.S. Rep District 7 – Peterson and Hughs C-SPAN Debate

• U.S. Rep District 8 – Stauber and Radinovich KSTP Debate

3. Get Your Voting Questions Answered

Make sure you’re registered to vote and know where and when to vote. Here are some key details:

• • Date – Tuesday, November 6 is election day, the last day to vote (you can vote before then; see early voting info below).

• • Time – 7am-8pm. If you are in line to vote by 8pm, you can vote, even if you don’t reach the front of the line by 8pm.

• • Location – To find out your polling place address, enter your address here.

• • Registration – Check to see if you’re registered to vote already. If not, learn about the qualifications and same-day registration.

• • Early Voting – The deadline to vote early by mail has passed, but you can vote early in person through Monday, Nov. 5. Check your early-voting location and hours here.

• • During Work Hours – Your employer is required to allow you to vote during work hours, without losing pay, personal leave or vacation time.

• • College Student voting details

• Voting Details if you are in the military or living abroad, have a criminal record, are under guardianship or have an impairment, are in a nursing home/hospital/residential facility, are homeless, or are facing other situations.

4. Vote!

5. Check Out the Election Results

After the election, you can view the result details of all races on the Secretary of State website. Because I like to get an overall feel for my neighborhood’s political leanings, I like to see which candidates won in my precinct, even for the major races.