Check out the voter turnout in your county — and what groups are doing to increase it
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Minnesota officials certified last week’s primary vote Tuesday, confirming it as the lowest primary turnout since 2016.
Fifteen percent of registered voters cast ballots on Aug. 13. This translates to only 12 percent of all eligible voters. In 2016, 7 percent of eligible people voted.
“The thing about primaries is it is so dependent on who or what is on the ballot. If there's a hot contest somewhere, then people show up. If not, they tend not to,” said Steve Simon, Minnesota’s secretary of state.
Turnout in this year’s primary was highest in Stevens County at an estimated 36.4 percent of registered voters, and lowest in Kittson County at 5.4 percent.
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Figuring out what drives voter turnout is challenging because every voter is unique, as are the reasons they choose to vote or not, said Secretary of State spokesperson Cassondra Knudson. She also said the level of voting in a primary does not predict turnout in the general election.
The secretary of state’s office partnered with other entities on a newly launched public awareness campaign to increase voter turnout. They will be highlighting it at their Minnesota State Fair booth, over social media and through advertisements on television and radio stations prior to the general election this fall.
“When you ask a voter why they didn’t vote, it’s usually because they didn’t know who was running or they didn’t know where to vote,” said Michelle Witte, executive director of the League of Women Voters of Minnesota.
In their outreach to voters, which includes young people, newly naturalized citizens and formerly incarcerated people, the 104-year-old organization operates a voter guide website that lists every candidate running for office in the state. The bilingual guide covers everything from local soil and water board races to the presidential election. Witte said they also help people understand how elections work and hold hundreds of statewide candidate forums.
A much newer get out the vote organization, Believe In What’s Possible, concentrates on younger people exclusively. Chelsea Sheldon, organizing and operations director, said they focus on voter engagement for 14- to 29-year-olds, with an emphasis on primary elections and creating youth-focused and youth-led events.
The organization invites young people to ask questions and to advocate for issues that are important to them while having a good time with friends and peers.
“I think a lot of the reasons young voters are speaking sometimes about politics with frustration is because either they don’t see themselves reflected in those rooms, or, quite simply, the rooms or the ballot box are places that they don't really want to go to,” said Sheldon. “Maybe that political event has a barrier of knowledge that they do not feel they have. Maybe the fundraiser for the candidate they care about has a donation requirement.”
Believe In What’s Possible hosts concerts and craft nights with free food during the primary, linking these events to civic resources and civic actions like a pop-up polling place, a voter guide or a sample ballot.
Sheldon said that during the recent primary, people were largely focused on national candidates and might not have been aware of elections like the school board race in their local precinct.
“We need to make sure that we're talking to voters regardless,” she said. “We're trying to make sure that our generation is engaged in all the ways that they need to be this year and beyond.”
