People are talking about voter ID again, so I thought i'd offer some observations. I've done partisan poll-watching in Minnesota most major elections since 2012.
Minnesota does not require voter ID in the way most people think of ID. I have only ever seen that be a good thing.
MN has motor-voter laws, and other ways to register well before elections. We don't regularly "purge" voter rolls that I know of.
The vast majority of voters show up on election day, say their name and address to poll workers, and show up on the registration lists. Ta-da! They've been identified.
You can also register on election day in MN! This is great for people who have moved recently, for example.
Day-of registration does require some proof of residence in that voting area, so you can use IDs, or mail, or a lease, or a few other things. Again, useful for ppl who've moved recently.
But what if you moved last week, and you're not on the lease or utility billing? No "official" proof you live in district?
Your roommate can swear you live with them!
Swearing-in makes people nervous, but it's the same kind of swearing as one does for court testimony. Same penalties for lying.
I have seen TONS of folks swear in a recently-moved roommate or spouse.
I once saw a parent who was registered drag in one kid to same-day register. There was another kid out in the truck without enough documentation, and poll workers thought he couldn't vote. I reminded them of swearing in.
Same day voting is also good for people in precarious living situations, which is sadly a lot of folks in MN. Staying on a friend's couch? They can swear you in.
I've seen this one in action, too, tho rarely.
Theoretically, you do not even need an address to vote in MN. Anyone other voter in your district who knows where you stay can swear you in. (E.g., "I swear he parks on the street near that railroad bridge every night.")
I have not seen this in action, to my knowledge.
But most of the people who benefit from not needing documentation on election day in MN have even more banal hangups - forgot wallet at home; using a different bag than usual; rushed out after tagging spouse in with the kids & only have spouse's keys, etc.
Occasionally someone will offer their ID to poll workers especially if they have a hard-to-spell name* - this often results in voters further down the line reaching for their IDs. Usually, poll workers correct this right away, but i've had to remind a head judge once or twice.
The reason this has to be stopped right away is because as soon as people in line start reaching for their IDs, -someone- in line realizes they don't have theirs and starts to turn away! Maybe they'd come back, but usually they won't.
So, no ID on election day = super great. My opinion, but also...
MN consistently has some of the highest voter turnout in all of the US, and I think a lot of it is due to how little administrative burden there is on voters, including if you're couch-surfing, just moved, or forgot your wallet.
*Final observation: a few years back I was observing at a polling place with a high percentage of N African immigrant voters, but also overlapping with new yuppie apartments. Several poll workers were high school kids from the N African community (not immigrants themselves.)
They were great...
...at finding N African folks in the voter rolls. But since a lot of the yuppie apartment-dwellers had recently moved, a lot of them had to same-day register.
When a YAD said "Hansen, -en not -on", these young workers were legitimately stumped. Hansen had to get out his ID to show them the spelling.
