City officials say Duluth saw low voter turnout for election day

City of Duluth officials said voter turnout was generally down for Tuesday’s election.

“Voter turnout was steady throughout the day, but it was low in comparison to similar elections,” said Director of Administrative Services Chelsea Helmer. “I think we ended [at] just around 23% which is low for this type of election. Certainly, we were hoping to see more people come out to the polls on Election Day.”

In comparison, an election with similar races in 2017 had closer to a 30% turnout.

Helmer said its difficult to pinpoint why turnout was low this year, but that she expects it to be higher next year.

“Next year, we’ll have statewide races.” she said. “Generally you’ll see more interest in those races and you’ll see a higher voter turnout.”

The Minnesota Governor’s race is a key race that she believes will draw more interest.