Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie says he’ll back legislative efforts to expand voting ahead of Election Day, though he’s not sure what form that would take. Voters can now cast absentee ballots ahead of time but they technically need to have 1 of a handful of valid reasons for voting early. More than 30 states allow some form of no-excuse early voting, with some polling places popping up as early as September. Ritchie says he’s confident Minnesotans are ready to allow a longer voting window. He says early voting would probably boost turnout during busy election years and have more of an effect in off-year municipal elections. Minnesota regularly leads the nation in voter turnout, with more than 76% of eligible voters statewide casting ballots in 2012, and most local-area counties topping 90% turnout.