If you are an eligible voter who plans to vote and haven’t yet registered, it’s time to mark your calendar with a big red X on Oct. 14.

That’s the deadline for submitting a voter registration application to your county courthouse so your name will be on the roster Nov. 4 at your polling place.

Minnesota allows same-day registration at the polls, and that’s a convenient thing for procrastinators. But you would save much time and effort for yourself and everyone in line behind you at your precinct by taking care of business by Oct. 14 if possible.

Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie is predicting this to be “a watershed year” when it comes to voters flocking to the polls for this presidential election. Already 84 percent of eligible voters in the state are registered. With applications still being accepted until mid month and with same-day registration, turnout could reach about 90 percent, Ritchie said. (His prediction doesn’t take into account if anyone will be scared away by the study released last week that cites an 18 percent increased risk of traffic death on Election Day. Of course, law-abiding Minnesotans will buckle up and practice defensive but courteous driving, so that’s not a major concern.)

This state’s residents take voting seriously, a point to be proud of. The national average for voter registration is 68 percent, which we’ve already left in the dust.

Absentee ballots also have been in demand. In Blue Earth County, Patty O’Connor handles elections and she told a reporter the phone had been ringing like crazy for ballots. The last time she’d seen that kind of demand was when Jesse Ventura ran for governor.

The high interest in the election is invigorating, and eligible voters not yet registered still have plenty of opportunity to take part in the process.

For more information on voting and elections, visit www.sos.state.mn.us