“My vote was counted,” Guerra said, triumphantly. “They got it November 3. It makes me feel a whole lot better. I thought I would have to live with never knowing. It’s an important election.”

Guerra’s experience has left her husband, Chris Farley, of the opinion that it’s “onerous” to require that out-of-state absentee ballots carry the signature of a registered Minnesota voter as witness, or the signature and seal of a notary public.

[M]y wife spent part of the afternoon on the Saturday before the election trying to get a notary. She told me she went to a local bank (where you can always find a notary). They asked if she was a customer. Nope, she was not. So they told her they would not notarize anything at any price. … After she called to tell me this, I remembered that my mother, who also lives in Utica, NY, is a notary public … Phew! Finding a notary public is a somewhat obscure skill. I bet the vast majority of young voters, who’ve never needed to have anything notarized in their lives, have no clue where to go for this service. It’s pretty obvious that this requirement suppresses absentee voter participation.

Only 12 other states have witness/notary requirements on par with Minnesota’s. A few others require a second signature if the voter has received assistance in completing the ballots, but most have no such requirement at all.

“It’s just weird considering Minnesota’s otherwise liberal voting laws,” comments Farley.