ROCHESTER – Addie and Ethan Wenz stopped for a quick selfie in the rain outside the city’s Government Center on Sunday afternoon.

The couple had just voted early and were wearing their “I Voted” stickers.

“I wanted to make sure I had the time to do it,” Addie said.

More than a thousand voters cast their ballots at polling places in Olmsted County on Sunday. Last weekend, more than 2,800 voters cast their votes at polling stations in the province on Saturday and Sunday.

This year marks the first time Minnesota voters will have access to in-person early voting on the Sunday before Tuesday’s general election. That’s because of a law passed by the state Legislature in 2023 that expanded early voting hours and access to absentee voting. The law specified that Minnesota county elections offices must provide in-person early voting on two Saturdays and the Sunday before Tuesday’s general election, which is Nov. 5, 2024.

In total, Olmsted County election officials have accepted 30,400 early ballots.

“It’s a popular service, so we’re happy to do it,” said Luke Turner, Olmsted County elections manager.

Interest in early voting is higher than in 2020, when early voting records were set in the county. This was likely amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic. Turner said nearly 1,000 people cast early votes in person during Saturday’s early voting in 2020, which was a record at the time. The more than 1,400 ballots cast per day over the weekend far eclipsed that.

All of the county’s full-time, part-time election staff and some temporary election workers helped keep lines to about 20 minutes despite the high turnout. On Sunday, 12 election assistants and 14 election assistants worked alongside the full-time election staff of five people and four other county employees at the polls at the two in-person voting locations Sunday, Turner said.

Addie and Ethan Wenz said they wanted to make sure they voted. Addie is a nurse and the couple has a one-car household. Ethan said he didn’t want a scenario where Addie is called into work or has a long shift and he has to work from home without a car on election day.

“It’s a little bit of logistics and a little bit of excitement,” he said.

Jeremy Carlson, who cast his ballot Sunday at the Olmsted County Election Office, 2122 Campus Drive SE, said he wanted to vote early in part because he was excited to vote.

“I’ve never voted before,” he said. “I didn’t want to wait until Tuesday.”

Carlson also said he was concerned there could be long lines on Election Day.

Due to the lines on Sunday, some voters sometimes had to wait twenty minutes before they could cast their votes.

Turner said people can vote early for any reason. Given the interest in the elections, he understands why people are concerned about long lines. However, since 30,400 voters in Olmsted County have already voted, this could alleviate some of the traffic on Election Day, Turner said.

More than 90,000 people cast ballots at polling places in Olmsted County in the 2020 election.

“That means a significant portion of people have already voted,” Turner said.