Students worried about turnout in Primary election
Several members of the Minnesota Public Interest Research Group held a news conference at the State Capitol today to call for the state of Minnesota to change the state's primary date to May or June. The students argued that an August Primary makes things harder for college students to vote. In particular, students who are registered to vote in Minnesota but live in another state during the summer break may have some difficulty voting absentee.
Carleton College student Ben Hellerstein says he asked the Carlton College Dean of Students, Rice County Election officials and the Secretary of State's office couldn't tell him how a student is supposed to fill out the address on their absentee ballot. He said many students live in different residences in the Spring and Fall semester. Hellerstein says he lives at Carleton during the summer but says it's been unclear how he should advise other students.
"In my experience in just educating students as to how they can participate is practically impossible," Hellerstein said. "It's hard for me to imagine that turnout in an August primary when people are off campus and when there hasn't been a clear source of information about how people can participate, can be anywhere near as high as participation in previous years."
This is the first year that Minnesota's primary has been moved to August. It's been a source of frustration for the campaigns and political parties. As MPR's Tim Pugmire points out, turnout is expected to be low.
An official with the Minnesota Secretary of State's office was unavailable to comment. I'll post his response when it's available.
John Aiken, spokesman for Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, says students who don't have an established residency at the time of the primary won't be able to vote on August 10th.
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