There were a couple of possible voting changes introduced at the Minnesota Legislature recently. We are intrigued by one, and find the other redundant.

A bill in the Minnesota Senate would create an early voting window of 15 days prior to an election when polling places would be open. A Saturday would be included, and the early voting would end three days prior to election day, when voting would take place as normal.

This comes as Minnesota is touting as a success its new no-excuse absentee voting, which last year let voters fill out a ballot early without having to state a qualifying reason. Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon says it is clear that the numbers – 55 percent more absentee ballots cast in 2014 – show that people want more options when it comes to voting. We have to agree.

Whether the Senate bill is the right plan we’re not so sure about. But it does open up the debate. That’s good.

The second bill we noticed would let voters select “none of the above” as their choice, rather than one of the candidates in a given race. The idea is to let frustrated voters say they don’t approve of the people running and want more options. But we have a democratic system in which parties choose who they want on the ballot, while independent candidates appear as well, usually by collecting enough signatures.

There is already a “none of the above” choice. It’s called staying home, and it gets noticed by the media and politicians alike. Politicians do target their message to “disaffected voters,” and it is politicians whose job it is to get them back to the voting booth.