No Booze on Election Day? It Happened Here in Minnesota

Is it true Minnesota once banned booze from being sold on Election Day?

Minnesota is, of course, the Land of 10,000 Lakes. But we also could be called The Land of 10,000 Strange Laws Having To Do With Alcohol. Even though I've been a fully naturalized Minnesotan now for over 12 years, the fact that I was born and raised across the Cheddar Curtain over in Wisconsin has always made many of Minnesota's laws concerning alcohol seem strange to me.

I mean, first, there was that law that was on the books until 2017 that made buying any alcohol on Sundays illegal. Then there was that strange law that limited just how much beer, whisky, or wine Minnesota craft breweries, distilleries, or wineries could sell. That one was repealed when the 'Free The Growler' law was finally passed over three years ago.

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And Minnesota's state law that prohibits grocery stores from selling wine and beer is STILL on the books. Grocery stores in the Bold North *can* sell beer, but as we all know, the beer that grocery stores can legally sell in Minnesota is that strange 'three-two' beer, or 'near beer' as it's sometimes called. The Gopher State is currently the *only* state where where that product (which contains less alcohol by volume than regular beer) is still sold.

READ MORE: Why Is MN The Only State To Sell Three-Two Beer?

So I guess it's not very surprising, then, that Minnesota once had a law on the books that banned liquor stores from being open on Election Day. Seriously. Can you imagine if that was still the law today? Given the anxiety many Minnesotans are feeling surrounding this election, I'm thinking Election Day might be a bumper day for liquor stores across the state!

But it was once the law here in the Bold North. According to this CBS Minnesota story, the Minnesota law that outlawed liquor sales on national election days was still in effect less than 40 years ago. It was finally repealed back in 1985, according to the Secretary of State's office.  And, as recently as just 12 years ago, this Time magazine article noted that similar bans were STILL in place in Kentucky and South Carolina.

READ MORE: The New 2025 Minnesota Law Parents and Kids Should Know About

CBS Minnesota said there were two reasons the law was originally enacted. The first was the fear that some candidates might pay off voters with free booze. (Though couldn't they have still done that, if they bought the booze before Election Day?) The second concerned the fact that some saloons also acted as polling places back in the day. (It's probably a good idea that's not still a thing, though, right?)

I had no idea our fair state once prohibited liquor stores from being open the same day we cast our votes. And speaking of strange things, keep scrolling to take a look at 10 other facts you probably don't know about Minnesota.

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