 Election Day is not until November but starting today people across the state of Minnesota can cast their ballots for this year's election. The absentee voting period is now open allowing residents of Minnesota to cast their ballot anytime before the November 6th election date. You can apply for an absentee ballot online or by stopping into your local elections office. Anyone can cast an absentee ballot even if you will be in town on election day. One of the things that Minnesota has done is opened up that absentee voting period to make sure that everybody has that opportunity and nobody has an excuse not to vote because of their schedule. Anywhere from 20 to 25 we're kind of creeping up more towards that 30 percent of our voters who actually vote for election day are now voting prior to election day and we expect to see that number continuing to grow. And again election day this year is November 6th. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland news please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.