Civic engagement and voting

The 2021 Municipal Election in Minnesota is on Tuesday, November 2nd 2021. Not all areas of Minnesota will have elections in 2021; see the Minnesota Secretary of State website for a full list of Minnesota local elections or use the polling place finder to see if any elections are associated with your home address.

Early voting begins September 17th both in person and by mail. 

If you aren't registered to vote at your address, you can register in advance by October 12th or on election day when you vote. See our Voting and Elections tab for more information about registering to vote and how to vote!

For Minneapolis voters, see this 2021 Minneapolis Voters Guide from the League of Women Voters for specific city election information. For Saint Paul, see the Ramsey County website for Elections & Voting.

Your vote counts, especially at the local level, and we want to help you navigate the ins and outs of the city elections in Minneapolis and Saint Paul in November! Come to this workshop to learn about navigating the process of voting, how to view your sample ballot, resources for researching candidates and specific ballot questions, and how you can be more involved with elections in your community. 

First-time voters, new-to-the-area voters, and seasoned voters all welcome!

Register for October 14th at 1pm or October 22 at 11am.

If you are a voter in Minneapolis, you will see three questions on the 2021 Minneapolis ballot that propose amendments to the City Charter to change the government structure, replace the Police Dept with a Dept of Public Safety, and enact rent control (look up your sample ballot or see the Minneapolis Voting page for the specific language).

If you are a voter in Saint Paul, you will have only one city question on your 2021 ballot that if passed would enact rent control in the city (see your sample ballot for specific language).

Look for independent news sources covering these topics locally to give some context for the questions. There are links below to a few articles the library has sourced that are non-partisan and independently covering these topics. For further research, consult the Minnesota News Resources guide to find more ways to search. 

• Government Structure
  • What to know about the ‘strong mayor’ ballot amendment in Minneapolis MPRNews August 31, 2021
  • Should the mayor of Minneapolis have more power? Here is everything you need to know about the strong-mayor amendment on the ballot this fall. Sahan Journal September 13, 2021
• Department of Public Safety
  • The Yes 4 Minneapolis charter amendment, explained MPRNews August 31, 2021
  • Charter Amendments Impacting Public Safety League of Women Voters Minneapolis
• Rent Control
  • Rent control is on the ballot this fall in Minneapolis and St. Paul. We asked supporters and opponents whether the measures will help produce affordable housing. Sahan Journal September 14, 2021
  • St. Paul rent control measure on Nov. 2 ballot brings out hopes, fears on all sides Pioneer Press October  19, 2021
  • Here’s the rent control question St. Paul will vote on this fall Minnesota Reformer August 19, 2021
  • Minneapolis will vote on rent control this fall. Here’s what to know. MPRNews August 31, 2021
  • The push for rent control in St. Paul, explained MinnPost August 5, 2021
  • The push for rent control in Minneapolis, explained MinnPost May 3, 2021

The Matter of Facts blog, published in the Libraries continuum magazine, covers hot topics from the news media where we use our expertise to help our users and the general public better understand how to find and evaluate information while also combating misinformation.

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