News last week that Minnesota Senator Tony Lourey was leaving his District 11 seat to become commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Human Services sparked a fast and furious race for his senate seat. Additionally, the accelerated timeline of the special election has also created challenges for everyone from the candidates themselves to political parties and county officials tasked with running the election.

“These elections will be conducted in the same manner as we did last fall for the August primary and the November general [election],” said Carlton County auditor Paul Gassert....