Local elections often have a tough time drawing voters to the polls, but that wasn't the case Tuesday in Minneapolis or St. Paul.
In Minneapolis, election officials had to order more ballots after more than 20 precincts began running low because of higher than expected turnout, said Minneapolis City Clerk Casey Carl. Election officials estimate that 43 percent of the registered voters turned out at the polls Tuesday, up from 33 percent four years ago, Carl said.
"That's a really good turnout," he said. "That's on par with 2014 midterm elections. … People are turning out everywhere throughout the city."
The draw in part could be some competitive races in Minneapolis, Carl said. Sixteen candidates were vying for mayor in Minneapolis.
"I feel like voting at the local level is really an important way to make a difference, particularly with the national political scene," said voter Elizabeth Erdahl, one of 400 people who had voted in the Lynnhurst neighborhood by noon. "And I'm ready for a change in who our mayor is, so that motivated me quite a bit."
At Heltzer Manor high-rise in Minneapolis' Third Ward, head election judge Gwen McMahon hoped an evening voting surge would push turnout toward 40 percent. The precinct — one of the city's smallest with 826 registered voters — had surpassed 30 percent turnout by midafternoon.
Even before the polls opened Tuesday, nearly 12,000 Minneapolis voters cast their ballots early, Carl said, a dramatic increase from 2013, when 4,954 voted early.
"That is easily a new record for an off-year election, and was comparable to an election year when there is a statewide race or a congressional midterm," Carl said.
