Minnesota voters eager to be first, but there could be a reason to wait

Minnesota is among the first in the country to get to vote in this year's Democratic presidential contest, though a small handful of states with more restrictive early absentee guidelines already started.

Early voting in Minnesota's March 3 primary — the state's first primary presidential election after decades of caucuses — began Friday. With passions running high, some voters were understandably eager to cast their ballots first thing Friday morning.

Then again, some ask, why would you vote now?

The month leading up to the Minnesota primary will see the Iowa and Nevada caucuses and the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries, which are almost certain to thin the field. Cory Booker, Julián Castro and Marianne Williamson are all out of the Democratic race but still on the Minnesota ballot. Let's say that you're really jazzed to vote for, let's just pick a random candidate, Amy Klobuchar, wouldn't you wait to see how she does in the first month of the race so that you don't, well, throw your vote away?

Granted, it's a bigger dilemma for Democrats, who will have 15 candidates to choose from. The Republican ballot lists only one name: President Donald Trump.

Something else to know before you cast a primary ballot: Your choice of which party's ballot you vote is not private and is handed over to all major parties in the state, even if they aren't holding primaries.