From The Fergus Falls Daily:
September primaries date back to 1939 in Minnesota, but a recent change in federal law forced state lawmakers to move to an earlier date. The full impact of the move remains unclear, but most observers say they expect extremely low voter turnout in the dog days of summer.
Minnesota needed an earlier primary to comply with the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act. It ensures that the votes cast by military personnel and other Americans living abroad are counted back home. All states must now provide at least a 45-day window between the primary and general election to accommodate absentee voting.
Secretary of State Mark Ritchie said the date change should solve a key problem.
“We are confident that it will reduce the number of overseas and military ballots that are uncounted because they are late,” Ritchie said. “I believe in 2008 that it was over 500.”
But an earlier primary also raises concerns about voter turnout. On Aug. 10, many Minnesotans will be on vacation, college campuses will be quiet and candidates will have not yet campaigned at the State Fair. Ritchie, a Democrat running for a second-term, said turnout could be down to 10 percent -- low even by primary election standards of 20 percent in a good year.
That would mean about 350,000 total primary voters, with even fewer deciding which of three Democratic Farmer Labor candidates for governor will be on the November ballot.
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