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Voter turnout low to fill Melissa Hortman's Senate seat
Not a lot of people noticed, but Tuesday is Election Day for thousands of Minnesota residents. There's a primary for the Senate seat once held by Melissa Hortman, and a St. Paul city council seat. FOX 9's Corin Hoggard has the latest.
BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. (FOX 9) - Election Day came Tuesday for tens of thousands of people in Minnesota today, but voters hit the polls in small numbers.
Empty election
Do they know?:
Even the race to replace assassinated DFL leader and Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman didn’t draw a big crowd.
FOX 9 checked St. Paul, where there’s an actual city council election, and in Brooklyn Park at the spot where the Hortmans would’ve voted, and every polling place was steady and slow.
But election officials say that’s more or less the expectation for an August election.
‘Important’ election
To vote or not to vote:
Voters 100 and 101 of the day at the Riverview Early Childhood Center are former neighbors of the woman whose seat they’re voting to fill.
"We thought it was important to vote to fill Melissa’s seat," said Brooklyn Park resident Bob Anderson.
He and his wife were fairly lonely at the polls and, just a couple of miles away, a potential voter may have revealed why.
"I’m a Melissa Hortman fan and a strong Democrat, so I know who I would vote for regardless of which of the three," Vukmanich said.
Slow trickle
Typical for August:
Election officials expect around 10% voter turnout for the primary and maybe twice as much in November.
It was just a little busier in the race to elect a new St. Paul city council member for Ward 4.
"It's really been steady," said Clara Rainer, a head election judge in Ramsey County. "Almost the whole day we've had at least a couple voters in."
The slow trickle of voters is normal for an August election.
Brooklyn Park city clerk Damon Montero said they had a 7.3% turnout in their last August primary.
But it’s a stark contrast from nine months ago when 76% of Minnesota’s eligible voters cast ballots in the presidential race.
"The last election we were here in November and where we're standing right now there were lines basically out the door," said Raineri.