Hopes for a last-ditch legislative deal that would avert a GOP constitutional amendment to require photo identification at the polls all but expired last week when no Republican lawmakers showed up to stand with Gov. Mark Dayton at a news conference on the subject.

Al Franken had been officially sworn in as the newest senator from Minnesota in Washington for nine days. That's how little time passed last year before the Minnesota GOP took aim at the man some still hold responsible for sending Franken to Washington in the first place: Secretary of State Mark Ritchie.

Poll watchers of all political stripes are reporting few substantial problems at voting locations across the state. But some observers are concerned about overly aggressive party-affiliated challengers operating at some polling sites.