Ade Nomo-Ongolo took advantage of sunny skies and mild temperatures to drive to an early voting location in St. Paul on Monday — six weeks before Election Day — and cast his ballot for president of the United States of America and other races in the 2024 election. He was neither surprised nor off put to encounter a sizable line and a 25-minute wait, as well as an in-person, absentee ballot voting process that went off without a hitch.

“I’m busy, I work long hours, I thought let me get this out of the way,” said Nomo-Ongolo, 53, of St. Anthony. “And the weather’s OK.”

Early voting is underway at designated polling locations across the state, including the Ramsey County government building at 90 W. Plato Blvd. in St. Paul and other locations throughout Dakota and Washington counties.

Requests for mail-in ballots and in-person voting are about “as expected for a presidential election,” said Casper Hill, a spokesperson for Ramsey County, on Monday afternoon.

On Friday — the first day of absentee voting — Ramsey County Elections staff saw 741 in-person voters, compared with 1,357 in-person voters on the first day of absentee voting during 2020, an election season that broke national turn-out records.

Based on past turnout data, elections officials expect daily in-person voting traffic will slow down slightly until approximately two weeks before Election Day. With turnout expected to then pick back up, Ramsey County will open four additional in-person voting locations on Oct. 18 in St. Paul, Roseville and Shoreview. Maplewood City Hall is already accepting absentee ballots for Maplewood residents only.

Around mid-day Monday, voters at 90 W. Plato faced wait times of about 20 minutes to get into the polls, which is about typical for a statewide general election, Hill said.

“It’s smooth and there’s a long line, which I think is good,” said St. Paul resident Todd Schmitz.

In addition to the presidential race, one U.S. Senate seat, their Congressional district seat and races for state representative, St. Paul voters will encounter two local ballot questions about potentially funding childcare subsidies through a 10-year property tax increase and possibly moving mayoral and city council elections to even years. Two judges running for re-election in Ramsey County, the First Judicial District, face challengers.

Dakota, Washington counties

Given that many voters opted to mail in ballots during the early days of the pandemic, early voting in 2024 may more closely resemble 2022 than the last presidential race in 2020, said Michelle Blue, the elections director in Dakota County.

Blue said wait times at most early voting locations in Dakota County on Monday were five minutes or less. After a rush on Friday, she said foot traffic had slowed a bit, as to be expected. Still, some 26,000 voters had requested absentee ballots by Monday afternoon, a number approaching 10% of the county’s registered voters. There are 15 early voting locations in Dakota County, including three county government buildings and 12 city halls.

More than 1,000 early voters on Friday visited the four Washington County “vote centers” in Forest Lake, Cottage Grove, Stillwater and Woodbury.

“On our first mail-out of absentee ballots late last week, we mailed almost 10,000 ballots,” said Amy Stenftenagel, director of Washington County Property Records and Taxpayer Services. “We continue to see a steady flow of voters at our vote centers and a steady flow of absentee ballot requests so voters can vote by mail.”