"Same Day" Voter registration trends since 1950

If a U.S. citizen has lived in Minnesota for at least 20 days prior to an election and is at least 18 years of age and is not an incarcerated felon, and not in a guardianship in which the court has revoked the ward’s right to vote and not someone who the court has found to be legally incompetent (§ 201.014), that person is eligible to vote and can also register to (or be registered to) vote in several ways:

1. Automatic voter registration: Through a driver’s license application Minnesotans may register to vote—this occurs unless the applicant opts out of voter registration (§ 201.161)
2. On election day, at the polling place.
3. Through the absentee ballot application (§ 203B.04, § 203B.065).
4. Online through the Secretary of State’s website (§ 201.023)
5. By mail, a paper application (§ 201.061, § 201.071)
6. In person before election day at the county or municipal election office (§ 201.061, § 201.071)
7. Through public assistance agencies (§ 256.925)
8. Facilitated by participating post-secondary institutions: College students who change their permanent address may vote from their college address instead of, for example, their parents’ (§201.1611). Post-secondary institutions are required by law to provide a list of students living both on campus
9. 16- and 17-year-olds can pre-register to vote

Despite all these methods of registration, statistically between 5-10% of voters register same-day, meaning for example on a primary or general election day. (The exact proportion varies by polling place, municipality, and county and varies for different elections, though it is typically higher for general elections.)

Data from Minnesota Blue Book, 2025:

And the general elections:

Looking at just 2020 and 2024, one may ask: How was it possible for less people to have voted (3,272,414 versus 3,292,997) while there were almost 300,000 (296,287) additional same-day voter registrations? (A separate issue is whether the most recent census is even accurate; separate from that, is 4,285,809 a realistic voting age population number from which to derive the percent of eligible voters?)