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Capitol View®
Tim Pugmire

How fast is absentee voting growing?

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I got an email overnight challenging Secretary of State Mark Ritchie's assertion that absentee voting had doubled in the 2008 election, compared to 2006. "Derek of Eagan" called it an "apples to oranges" comparison, since 2006 didn't have a presidential candidate on the ballot.

True enough, but it wasn't half the election, either.

So here's what the actual percentages look like, looking back to 2000. It isn't doubling every election, but there's pretty steady growth.