Voter turnout

Here is the final tally from Minnesota.

This year's turnout represented 77.72 percent of the estimated population of eligible voters, tops in the nation -- and well ahead of second-place Wisconsin's 73.7 percent -- but short of the Minnesota high of 83.15 percent achieved in 1956, when 1.6 million people voted. The only other higher showing since records were first kept in 1950 was 79.39 percent in 1960. . .

Same-day registrations at the polls totaled 581,904, 20.57 percent of all voters and more than 117,000 greater than the previous high in 2000. On a percentage basis, that was exceeded only in 1980 and 1976. Same-day registration began in Minnesota in 1974.

If there is a good argument why there should not be same-day registration, I have not heard it. Yet, to the best of my knowledge, only six states allow it.

This was our second election at our current address. This year, when we went to the polls, I was on the voter roll, but my wife was inexplicably absent. She had been looking forward to casting her vote this year for a long time, and same day registration saved the election judges at that polling place from having a very bad day.

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