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By Ellie Roth, Minnesota Public Radio News

A crush of students and Minneapolis residents visited a pop-up voting site at the Weisman Art Museum at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus on Tuesday.

This year marks the first time Minnesota college students will get to vote early on campus, following a law passed in 2023 by the state Legislature that allows for on-campus pop-up early voting sites. Traditionally, students would have to visit an off-campus polling place to cast their ballot.

“It sends a message to young people and to first-time voters that we don’t want to make the system an obstacle course,” said Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, who stopped by the pop-up voting site Tuesday morning. “We’re willing to engage in voting procedures that mirror your hectic life and give you an opportunity to vote in the way that best makes sense for you.”

The early voting pop-up site was organized by the Row the Vote campaign, a nonpartisan effort led by the Undergraduate Student Government. Organizers have spent the past few months visiting over 1,000 classrooms, registering students and educating peers on how to vote.

As a result, more than 3,000 students registered to vote, and 12,000 students pledged to vote. Those who pledged to vote were entered into a drawing to win a $5,000 scholarship and various gift cards.

“By making a plan to vote, psychologically it makes you more likely to vote,” said USG civic engagement director Riley Hetland, a sophomore.  “It’s really amazing to help students help themselves.”

Enoch Ojo, a sophomore, said he voted between classes.

“I definitely love the fact that early voting is close to campus,” he said. “It made it just a lot more efficient.”

Any Minneapolis resident could vote early at the pop-up voting site. Nurse Cassie Fritze biked over from M Health Fairview hospital to vote on her lunch break.

“I just noticed in the line so many people registering to vote and voting for the first time, and it’s really exciting to see so many young people passionate about it,” she said.

Frost visits campus

The Harris-Walz campaign capitalized on early voting on campus with a visit from campaign surrogate Florida Rep. Maxwell Frost, the first member of Gen Z to serve in Congress. Frost spent the day encouraging students to vote, visiting a political science class and driving students to the early voting site in a golf cart.

He also met with a group of College Democrats and volunteers alongside U.S. Sen. Tina Smith and state Rep. Mohamud Noor, DFL-Minneapolis.

His job with the Harris-Walz campaign is to rally young voters, a voting block both parties consider critical to winning this year’s presidential election. More than 41 million members of Gen Z can cast ballots this year.

“This is a really important state in this election and I’m at the university to make sure students feel empowered to go out and vote as well,” said Frost.

Some liberal voters, including many students, are planning to sit out of the election in protest of the Biden-Harris administration’s stance towards the Israel-Hamas war. On Monday, 11 people were arrested after pro-Palestinian protests occupied a building on the University of Minnesota’s Twin Cities campus. Frost said he understands the frustrations, but said if Harris is elected, she will accomplish a cease-fire.

“A lot of this comes from a really legitimate place,” Frost said. “What gets us closer to making sure we end this horrible campaign of kids being bombed alive? What gets us there is not Donald Trump, right? A vote for Kamala Harris gets a step closer to that and that’s the way people should think about it.”