Minnesota Legislature Backs Excuse-Free Absentee Votes

Current state law requires voters to attest one of a handful of justifications in order to obtain an absentee ballot, although enforcement has been lax. The bill lifts those limits entirely and opens up the absentee option to anyone.

Democrats had pushed a wider expansion of early voting at the polls, but Republicans opposed those changes. Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton made it clear he would only support election-law changes that have support from members in both parties.