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In '14, state voter turnout hits nearly 30-year low

Statewide turnout in this year's general election was 50.5 percent as certified Tuesday by the Minnesota Secretary of State. That's the lowest since 1986.

November 25, 2014 at 10:09PM

Jennifer Bjorgo got help from her son Jesse, 4, as they voted at Little Earth Neighborhood Early Learning Center in Minneapolis for the 2014 elections (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Voter turnout in Minnesota this year fell to 50.5 percent, the lowest in a general election in the state since 1986.

The five-member State Canvassing Board, chaired by Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, met Tuesday to officially certify the results of the Nov. 4 election.

The board certified that 1,992,566 people cast a ballot in the election. Weighed against Minnesota's estimated eligible voter count of 3,945,136 resulted in a turnout rate of 50.51 percent.

That's very low compared to presidential election years, when Minnesota's turnout rate typically hovers above 75 percent. Turnout in 2012 was 76.4 percent, and in 2008 it was 78.1 percent.

But the 2014 turnout even suffered against recent off-year elections, which is when Minnesota elects its governors. In 2010 the turnout was 55.8 percent, and in 2006 it was 60.4 percent.

Minnesota voting hit a low mark in 1986, when 48.2 percent of eligible voters turned out. That year, DFL Gov. Rudy Perpich was re-elected over Republican challenger Cal Ludeman.

This year saw the first use of so-called "no excuse" absentee balloting in Minnesota, and Ritchie's office said the number of absentee ballots cast rose 55 percent compared to 2010. However, the 2014 figure was still lower than the total number of absentee ballots cast in 2012.