Voter Turnout Steady, Election Judges Say

Voter turnout has been steady all day long, according to Jeanne Rooney, the head election judge at the polling station. As of 12:30 p.m., roughly 670 voters had cast ballots at that station, Rooney said.

This year, seven candidates are competing for four seats on the School District 199 School Board. Voters will also decide the fate of three proposed levy referendums that could, if passed, generate more funding for local schools. The polls opened at 7 a.m. today.

Rooney, an Inver Grove Heights resident and election judge for 30 years, was expecting roughly 25 percent of the 9,020 registered voters in her precincts to vote in the election. Even though it's an off-year in the election cycle, Rooney said the levy referendum questions on the ballot would motivate more voters to weigh in at the polls.

"There's been a couple of little lulls all day," Rooney said.

Over at , Head Election Judge Mike Pliml was a little more cautious in his estimates.

"It's steady, but I wouldn't say it's great," Pliml said. As of approximately 1 p.m., Pliml said, roughly 750 people had cast ballots—less than 10 percent of the roughly 8,000 people registered in the precincts designated for that polling station.

"We saw a really good early morning, with everyone on their way to work," Pliml said. But in the afternoon, the numbers tapered off, he added.

"We'll be lucky to hit 1,000 [total voters]," he said.