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Your vote is your voice—get registered, get informed, go vote!

Who can vote?

To vote in Minnesota, you must be a U.S. citizen, at least 18 years old on Election Day, and a resident of Minnesota for at least 20 days. If you had a felony conviction, you can vote if you have finished all parts of your sentence, including probation or parole.

Paying out-of-state tuition or having a driver's license from another state does not necessarily mean you can't vote in Minnesota.

What is my voting residence?

You should register to vote from the address you currently consider home. For many students, this is likely a school address or a parent’s house. If you still go back to visit but no longer consider it your home, then you should register to vote where you live at school.

If you moved to Minnesota from another state and currently consider Minnesota your home, you can vote here even if you pay out-of-state tuition or have a driver’s license from another state.

If you do not consider your school address to be your home, you can apply to vote by mail with an absentee ballot.

Minnesota voters can apply online; otherwise, visit your home state’s election website.

How do I register to vote?

You must be registered to vote at your current address. It is best to register before Election Day, but it is not required. To register on Election Day, you must show proof of your name and current address.

What's on my ballot?

See the candidates and questions that will be on your ballot.

Where do I vote?

Find out where you vote. Most polling places are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Do I need to bring ID?

If your voter registration is current and active, you do not need to bring identification. This means you were successfully registered at least 21 days before Election Day and you have not moved or changed names since then.

If you need to register or update your registration, or you have not voted in four years or more, you will need to show proof of residence before you vote.

Vote early with an absentee ballot

You can vote early at your local elections office starting 46 days before Election Day. You can also apply to have an absentee ballot sent to you in the mail.

Going abroad?

Have an absentee ballot emailed to you wherever you are in the world. Learn how.

Print a factsheet on this topic

Download College Students factsheet.

Homeless

If you are homeless, you can register to vote using the location of where you sleep as your address. You may need to go to the polling place with someone (see details below) who can confirm where you are living.

When you register to vote, you must provide your current residence. This is the place where you sleep, so if you sleep in a shelter, at a friend's house, or outside somewhere, that is your voting residence.

If you sleep outside, write a description of its location on line four of your voter registration application. For example, "In the NW corner of Jefferson Park near the intersection of Winston Ave. and Smith St."

If you register before Election Day using an outdoor location as your residence, your voter record will be marked 'challenged' because the county could not confirm a specific street address. You will still be able to vote, but at the polling place on Election Day you will be asked to swear under oath that you are living at that location. In order to better ensure your registration remains active through Election Day, it is best to register within two months of that date.

You can also register on Election Day. You will need to show proof of residence.

If you live outside, in a shelter, or are staying at a friend's house, you may not have any documents proving you live there. If so, a registered voter from your precinct can go with you to the polling place to sign an oath confirming where you live.

If you live in a shelter, a staff person can go with you to the polling place to confirm you live at the shelter.

criminal record

Your criminal record does not affect your right to vote in Minnesota unless you are currently serving a felony conviction sentence, including probation, parole or supervised release.

Voting after a felony conviction

You can vote after you finish all parts of your sentence, including any probation, parole, or supervised release.

As soon as you finish (once you are ‘off-paper’), you can vote. You will need to register to vote. It is best to register before Election Day, but it is not required.

You can vote if...

you were charged with or convicted of a misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor.
you are in jail, but are not currently serving a felony sentence.
you have been charged with a felony, but you haven’t been convicted.
you have been given a stay of adjudication.
you finished all parts of your felony sentence.

You cannot vote if...

you are currently serving a felony sentence.
your stay of adjudication was revoked and you are currently serving a felony sentence.

Not sure about your legal status?

Sometimes it is not clear whether a felony charge results in a felony conviction. If you are unsure, you may want to seek legal advice from an attorney.

Print a factsheet on this topic

Download Voting with a Criminal Record factsheet.