Plain Talk: North Dakota early voting ahead of last midterm's pace

MINOT — With the November general election right around the corner, North Dakota is in the thick of what I described on the latest episode of Plain Talk as the "Super Bowl" for the Secretary of State's office. Michael Howe, who is on the ballot seeking reelection this year, joined my co-host Chad Oban and me to break down voting trends, election security and what his office is doing to maintain public trust in an era of national skepticism. A look at the numbers six days out from the election reveals an interesting shift in how North Dakotans are choosing to cast their ballots. According to Howe, absentee mail-in voting has dipped slightly compared to the last midterm cycle, with about 4,000 fewer absentee ballots returned at this point compared to 2022. However, in-person early voting is surging. "There's almost 9,000 more early votes cast in 2026 at this point in the election than there was four years ago in 2022," Howe noted. He attributed the shift to the fading shadow of