MPR's Voter Guide: More Information on Minnesota candidates with less digging

TIM NELSON: Elections are underway in Minnesota. Early voters have begun to cast ballots for November's election. And here's an interesting fact, more legislators are retiring this year than at any time in the past 50 years. So there's going to be a lot of new names on the ballot. MPR reporter, Sarah Thamer has been looking at the candidates and she joins me now. Hi, Sarah.

SARAH THAMER: Hi, Tim.

TIM MARK: So you've been working on some tools to get more election information in the hands of voters. Tell me what you're up to.

SARAH THAMER: So yes, we have. We've been doing it for a handful of elections. We're basically just trying to put the election in terms of what voters want to know, rather than what politicians want voters to know. So the MPR audience has responded favorably, and they've given us really good feedback.

So these are tools that really put that information about the election in one place at your fingertips, super easy and accessible. It's good for people who have been voting for 50 years, but it's also really good for first time voters, people that are just getting familiar with the ballot, and maybe doing their candidate research. So we've got all the information on how to vote, where to vote, and candidate profiles. It's all on our website that's mprnews.org/election.

TIM NELSON: Great. So let's break this down a little bit here. If you want to vote, let's start at the beginning, you have to register. Is it too late to register in Minnesota?

SARAH THAMER: It is not. That's a good question. So you can register to vote on election day any time until October 18. After that, you do have to wait until election day on November 8. And you can register to vote on election day.

TIM NELSON: And as I said, there's early voting happening already, lot of different ways to do that in Minnesota. How do people go about it?

SARAH THAMER: Well, you can go in person and you can find your polling location on the Secretary of State website. Information on how to vote absentee is also on the Secretary of State website.

TIM NELSON: Now there are more than 200 races across the state. I understand there's a new tool that tells voters exactly which races they're voting for. I guess that's handy if you're hearing about a lot of different candidates in your social media feed. But they aren't actually in your district. Tell me more about that.

SARAH THAMER: So we are really excited about this tool. For the first time, we're partnering with an outside organization to help voters build their own ballot. So if you go to our website, you can input your address, and then you get a list of all the races that will show up on your personal ballot. That way, you can know what candidates are running in your district. And the system also gives you a unique URL that you can save and bring with you wherever you're voting. You can also, if you feel so inclined, share that URL on social media with your friends if that's your thing.

TIM NELSON: Handy to have on your smartphone there?

SARAH THAMER: Exactly.

TIM NELSON: And as I said, there's a lot more lawmakers leaving more than any other time in the last 50 years. So a lot of new names out there. You've been working on a guide to help people get to know these folks.

SARAH THAMER: Yes, it's the MPR voter guide. We've been very busy with it. But it's going to be such a crucial tool during this time. So we take a deep dive into the issues that are coming to the forefront in the campaign. And we highlight the position that every single candidate takes on those issues. For example, we learned abortion and public safety are two big issues voters are focusing on right now. So we're laying where each candidate stands on those particular issues.

TIM NELSON: A lot of races in Minnesota, hundreds of them. You're going to cover all of these?

SARAH THAMER: So we do want to be the voter help guide or help desk for Minnesota. But to answer your question, no. We are starting with offices that seem the most important to Minnesotans we've heard from. So there are thousands of candidates and hundreds of races. There's really no way to get detailed information on every single race. But as we get questions from the audience, it will point us to what we will need to know to add to our guide.

So you can reach out to us on our website, mprnews.org/election. You can also submit a question there. You can also send an email to ask at mpr.org. And if you want all of this information emailed to you, we have a great newsletter on our website, that's our free Capitol View newsletter.

TIM NELSON: So the governor's race is getting a lot of attention. Legislators are sending me a lot of mail to my mailbox. Are you tracking other statewide offices here in the state?

SARAH THAMER: We are. So the Attorney General and Secretary of State races are really important. Right now, the two endorsed candidates for the Secretary of State race are very different. And keep in mind, Kim Crockett and Steve Simon have very different views on the integrity of our election. The outcome of that race could change our election system dramatically.

TIM NELSON: And how do you mean for people to use this voter guide?

SARAH THAMER: Well, for those of us who like to be prepared, check it out ahead of time. You can also check in over time as we'll just be adding more information as the campaigns continue. So that way, you'll feel really prepared to head into the voting booth. And plus, you don't have to do any digging. But some of us are procrastinators, and you can just bring your phone with you into the voting booth, pull up our website, and read right there. The information is well-organized. That was intentional so you can find what you need quickly. And again, you don't have to do any digging. So it's perfect.

TIM NELSON: Now you've said voters are already getting in touch with MPR News to ask about these elections. What kind of questions are you getting?

SARAH THAMER: We're really seeing a range of different kinds of questions from voters that are specific to the process, like, how do I vote early? And how do I register to vote? But then there are more candidate-centric issue-based questions, including what are candidates going to do about our changing climate? And who will uphold our legal marijuana laws? So it really ranges from the issues and candidates.

TIM NELSON: There's a lot of elections where the candidates seem so similar. It's kind of hard to tell the difference between them. Are we in this kind of election this year?

SARAH THAMER: That's a great question. And right now, what we're seeing is that it really depends on the issues we're talking about, as well as the candidates. As I mentioned earlier, we have seen vastly different views from some candidates when it comes to election results and integrity. But we've also seen similar views on other issues like prioritizing public safety. Again, it really all depends.

TIM NELSON: And lastly, Sarah, this is a good time to introduce you here. You're one of our newest reporters on the race, class, and communities team. Welcome to MPR.

SARA THAMER: Thank you so much. It's been so great to be here. And our team race, class, and communities is doing really important work, and we know that elections can impact everyone. So whether it's people who are part of our immigrant populations here in our community or people who are maybe just new to voting altogether, we know that not everyone is well-versed in election.

So it's been really good to put this guide together. Here are the issues, you don't have to dig for them. Just visit this one link. It's very easy and convenient. So it just makes the process more equitable too, which is very important. I also wanted to mention that we'll also have the voter guide translated in Hmong, Spanish, and Somali.

TIM NELSON: Fantastic. Thanks, Sarah.

SARA THAMER: Thank you so much for having me.

TIM NELSON: And Sarah Thamer is a reporter for MPR News. As you heard, all the voting info that she's working on and the upcoming election is on our website, mprnews.org/election.