Minnesota Secretary Of State - Secretary of State Steve Simon Announces Preliminary Voter Participation Numbers
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Secretary of State Steve Simon Announces Preliminary Voter Participation Numbers

November 7, 2018

Minnesota has enjoyed extraordinarily high levels of voter participation and routinely ranks as #1 in the United States for turnout. For the 2018 Statewide General Election, preliminary estimates indicate that at least 2,593,922 voters participated either in-person or by absentee ballot, representing a 63.82 percent participation rate. That is the highest percentage of voter participation in Minnesota for a midterm election since 2002 and the largest raw total for a midterm election in Minnesota history.

“Minnesota elections are a model for the nation,” said Secretary of State Steve Simon. “Not only do Minnesotans value civic engagement, but you have demanded from your government a voting system that makes it as easy as possible for Minnesotans to exercise their voice and power at the polls. Whether or not our participation rate this year means we will maintain our #1 in the nation status, I will always consider you the best voters in our great country.”

Minnesota Statutes 206.89 states that after every state general election, Minnesota counties perform a post-election review of election results returned by the optical scan ballot counters used in the state.  The review is a hand count of the ballots in the selected precincts compared with the results from the voting system used in those precincts.

At the canvass of the state primary, the county canvassing board (the board that certifies federal, state and county election results in that county) in each county must set the date, time, and place for the post-election review of the general election, and notify the Secretary of State.

At the canvass of the state general election, the county canvassing boards must randomly select the precincts to be reviewed, and notify the Secretary of State.

For 2018, the post-election review is mandated for the election for U.S. Senator, U.S. Senator (special election), U.S. Representative, and Minnesota Governor. The dates and locations for each county's post-election review are available here.

Election results are not official until they have been reviewed and certified by a canvassing board.