Rep. Mike Freiberg Talks New Campus Election Law
A new Minnesota law goes into effect on Jan. 1, allowing college campuses to request and receive an early voting polling place.
The new law said any post-secondary institution that requests an early voting polling place on or near its campus can get one.
It only applies to schools with 100 or more on-campus housing spots, so that doesn’t include local colleges Hennepin Technical College and North Hennepin Community College.
Minnesota Rep. Mike Freiberg (DFL-Golden Valley) chairs the Elections Finance and Policy Committee at the state legislature.
His name was on the law as chair, but he said State Rep. Kristi Pursell (DFL-Northfield) came up with the bill.
However, he said the bill is one way to expand voter access in a state that already has a high voter turnout.
“Our goal this past session has been to make voting as safe, secure and accessible to people as possible,” he said. “This was a group that we felt was kind of underserved by the current voting infrastructure.”
The law also opened up some funding for those polling places.
The Minnesota House of Representatives has a full list of laws going into effect Jan. 1 on its website.
