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 early 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 Boulevard in St. Paul.

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 to 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. As turnout picks back up, Ramsey County will open four additional in-person voting locations across the county.

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

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.

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