Secretary of State Steve Simon visited Austin Tuesday to share recent election changes and get prepared for bigger changes ahead.

Simon is touring the state to discuss legislative updates to election law, specifically concerning National Guardsmen and those taking off time from work to vote.

Under election statutes, National Guardsmen get easier election requirements if they’re called into action by the president of the United States. Those protections include faster absentee voting and eased ID requirements among other things, according to Simon.

“What we found is that National Guard members don’t have those same rights if they’re called into action by a governor,” Simon said.

Aside from fixing that stipulation, a new law makes it easier for residents to take time off from work to vote. Simon said the measure passed through the Legislature after a survey found the biggest reason most Minnesotans don’t vote is because they can’t get away from work long enough to go to their local polling place.

Simon met with Mower County Auditor/Treasurer Steven Reinartz Tuesday to go over those changes, as well as to collect input from county officials on future projects the state will tackle regarding elections.

The Secretary of State’s office will convene a task force to gather recommendations on what to do in case of a statewide emergency during Election Day. The task force will propose guidelines for the Legislature on how to run an election if the state suffers from a natural disaster or other emergency. The task force comes just a few years after New York and New Jersey faced similar problems when Hurricane Sandy struck the Eastern Seaboard in October 2012.

In addition, another task force will examine how counties, cities and townships will pay to replace aging election equipment, much of which was bought after Congress passed funding for new equipment in the wake of Florida’s struggles to keep track of balloting during the 2000 presidential election.