Minnesota is one of 14 states (plus D.C.) that require voters to have an excuse in order to be allowed to vote early.  This means that I have a lot on my plate today; I’m super pumped to cover the election, but it is very important to me that I vote!  So my plan is to go to the polls now, get in line, and hope that it moves quickly.

My experiences voting here in Minnesota have always been smooth.  Even when I wasn’t registered ahead of time (hey, it’s easy to forget when you’re in college with a lot on your mind!) I was still able to do same day registration, and then cast my ballot in a timely fashion.  However, like many voters across the country, I wonder how long my wait in line will actually be.  It is likely that Minnesota will have around 80 percent voter turnout - and perhaps even surpass our all-time high of 83 percent set in 1956.  Hopefully the expected record turnout won’t mean a six-hour wait in line.

In case that is exactly what it means, I have come to my polling place armed with my cell phone (for twittering), ipod (complete with a new playlist) and of course a good book.