Timing can be everything when it comes to a smooth Election Day.
Voters looking to minimize their time in line might try to avoid the rush around lunchtime and after work. They might try to arrive as early as possible, when polls open first thing in the morning.
But few people throughout Minnesota set their alarm clocks on Election Day earlier than Hibbing City Clerk Candie Seppala.
“I usually get up about 3:30," she said. "I mean, I think I have 12 alarms just to make sure, because not that I’m not excited, but you also need your sleep."
Seppala said she arrives at the Hibbing Armory polling location around 5:30 in the morning, and election judges begin to arrive about 30 minutes later. From there, Seppala helps swear in the judges and finishes morning tasks before the polls open at 7 a.m.
"Nobody's really overly tired at that time, because it's all the adrenaline that's pumping," she said.
With any luck, voters headed to the polls this Election Day will experience a hassle-free process that can be measured in minutes.
But for the up to 30,000 workers responsible for running Minnesota's elections, preparing for the big day is a labor of love that can take weeks, if not months.
For Seppala, election season really kicks off in the month of June.
"You get this little rush in the middle of summer, because everybody's schedules kind of change," she said.
The Hibbing city clerk's office keeps up with election filings throughout summer, Seppala said. About two weeks before Election Day, the city hosts training for poll workers and conducts a public accuracy test of voting machines.
"That's also fun, because a lot of these people don't see each other any other time except election time," Seppala said.
As Election Day gets closer and the workload becomes heavier, more people hop on board. This includes Mike Lenarz with Hibbing's Public Works Department.
Lenarz doesn't work polls or count ballots, but Election Day wouldn't happen without him.
That's because Lenarz is the one responsible for setting up the booths and machines for voters.
"I've been doing it for probably 20 years or so," he said. "You can basically do it without even thinking, you know, I've been doing it so long."
Beginning the Friday before Election Day, Lenarz and a coworker begin setting up each of Hibbing's five voting precincts. He said he sets up more than 15 booths at each location, and he also posts signs directing voters and ensures all the locations have enough lighting.
Then, the morning of the election, Lenarz brings in the voting machines.
"They get delivered in the morning so that people can set them up because they keep them all under lock and key, so they can't be messed with," he said.
Even though he plays an essential role in Election Day, Lenarz said the special event is just another day on the job for him.
"It's kind of just mechanical," he said. "I don't know how else to explain it. There's nothing real hard about it."
Some workers with city and county offices, like Seppala or Lenarz, have Election Day responsibilities baked into their full-time job duties. But as election season picks up, other workers are recruited for temporary positions.
Patty Muscovitz is on the absentee ballot board for Cass County. In an election year, her work starts in June.
"[We] work all the way through the primary, maybe get four days off, and then we start back up on the general, and we're here until like the week after," she said.
For Muscovitz and other absentee ballot workers, Election Day follows weeks of processing early ballots. She said the absentee work can last up until hours before the polls open.
"It's a matter of, if there is a lot to do, we will be staying late on Monday night," she said.
In the meantime, election workers across the state will spend their Monday nights doing one last run-through of responsibilities.
Lisa Garbe is the head election judge at Woodrow Township in Cass County. She said she spends Monday evening with Township Clerk Catherine Dietrich, setting up booths and tables and walking through a "dry run" of Election Day.
Come Tuesday, Garbe said she's up before her alarm.
"For me, it feels good to get there," she said.
Garbe and Dietrich split breakfast and lunch responsibilities, and the other Woodrow Township poll workers bring sides.
"I'm excited about getting there before everyone else and getting my breakfast casserole in the oven," Garbe said.
After about 32 years of working elections, Garbe said her excitement far outweighs her nerves when it comes to Election Day, even though the day comes with a lot of work.
She said she's never had a tense or negative experience with a Woodrow Township voter, and she's mostly working with community members she knows personally.
"I am passionate about people voting and helping people do so," she said, "and some of my proudest moments in my life have been standing behind a counter helping somebody vote."
Election Day 2026 is Nov. 3.
But as Garbe reminds us, for those worried about snowstorms — or a torrential downpour — early voting is open now.
"You never know," she said.
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