by Zach Miller
Quick Summary
Election Day 2024 will take place Tuesday, November 5. But there's plenty to do before then. The State of Minnesota offers outreach and education tools to help libraries and Minnesotans get ready.
With election day just over a month away, it's time to get active and help library patrons access the voting process and information about the election. The Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon offers many tools that can help. They've even published a page dedicated to libraries. It includes a presentation directed to library staff, information about the civic role libraries can play, and links to examples of library efforts from around the country.
Here We Vote
The Here We Vote campaign is a voter outreach and education campaign that challenges Minnesotans to "reclaim our #1 spot in voter turnout." The campaign website includes information on registration and the three ways to vote (by mail, early in-person, and in-person on Election Day). There are also tools to help would-be voters find the right polling place, check registration, request an absentee ballot, and track their ballot.
The Voter Outreach Toolkit (PDF) includes messaging and information to share as the election nears, along with sample text for social media posts and graphics to go with them. The Digital Toolkit Guide offers even more sample posts and graphics for getting the word out on social media. Perhaps most usefully, the site also offers voter information in many of Minnesota's most widely spoken languages other than English:
