Primary turnout is through the roof in Minneapolis

Minnesota voters are casting their ballots Tuesday in a primary election that will help narrow the field of DFL and Republican candidates for the state’s top political positions, including governor, both U.S. Senate seats, all eight Congressional districts, state attorney general and several seats in the state House.

Polls opened at 7 a.m., and polling places around the Twin Cities have seen a steady stream of voters through the early afternoon. Elections officials are predicting a higher-than-average turnout, particularly because requests for absentee ballots has surged this year. In Minneapolis, city elections officials reported that about 31,000 people had voted by 12:30 p.m. — on top of the more than 14,800 Minneapolis residents who voted early. That’s already far more than the approximately 35,200 people who voted in the 2016 primary and 29,100 who voted in 2014.

At several locations, voters were focused on the wide-open race for governor, where two Republicans and three DFLers are the most prominent candidates vying to replace retiring DFL Gov. Mark Dayton. Voters don’t have to register as a member of a political party to participate in the primary, but they can only cast their votes for candidates in a single party as they mark their ballots.

By mid-afternoon, more than 400 Minnesotans had voted at Pax Christi Catholic Church in Eden Prairie, the polling place for two precincts, according to election judges.


http://www.startribune.com/primary-election-day-opens-with-high-turnout-interest/490831891/