Few problems reported at polls

It was an Election Day of long lines and few reported problems, Minnesota's chief election official reported late this afternoon.

"Voting's been very strong and steady all day," said Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer. "This year, there's been a lot of heightened interest in the election and turnout seems to be in line with that."

In the last midterm election four years ago, statewide turnout hit 63 percent of eligible voters. "This year is very likely comparable," Kiffmeyer said.

Voting machinery "has been working well, with no reported serious malfunctions, she said.

At one polling place, a voter inadvertently spilled coffee into a vote tabulator, but "they replaced the machine quickly," she said.

Hours earlier, when Todd Eggenberger arrived at Clear Springs School in Minnetonka before 7 a.m. to vote, he wasn't sure who would win but knew who the losers were.

"The voters lost," said Eggenberger, 47, of Shorewood. "I don't know a soul who hasn't been turned off by all the negative ads. And they just never quit."

The negative ads had a negative effect on many voters, regardless of political preference. In St. Cloud, Ellie LeBlanc, 27, voted for Michele Bachmann for Congress, but said she was so tired of negative political ads that she had not listened to her radio in weeks.

Laura Smith, 45, of Sartell, voted for Patty Wetterling for Congress, but would prefer to vote in a new system of campaigning that "wasn't so disgusting. I'm tired of turning the volume down every time a political ad comes on TV."

Eggenberger said he voted primarily for Independent candidates because, he said, "the fringes of the two other parties are polarizing the politics."

His was one of nearly 70 cars in the Clear Springs School parking lot by 6:45 a.m. Yet few of the voters were brimming with enthusiasm as they entered or exited.

"I'd like to be more enthusiastic," said Bill Jeska, 54, a landscaper from Minnetonka who split his votes, choosing DFL candidate Amy Klobuchar for Senate and Republican Tim Pawlenty for governor. "But it's hard the way everyone's stabbing one another in the back."

Laurie Barr, 43, an office manager from Minnetonka, said she typically votes early, and even though she voted slightly after 7 a.m., she seemed rushed. "I was supposed to be at work at 6:30," she said, running off to her car. "I'm sick of this negative campaigning."

Bob Welch, 44, a sales director for General Mills, couldn't vote soon enough. He arrived at the Clear Springs School at 6:50 a.m. and said that although he was excited about voting for Klobuchar, he considered the gubernatorial race "the lesser of two evils."

And "I'm glad it's ending," he said. "I turned off my TV a few weeks ago. I just couldn't watch this anymore."

Said Connie Loetterle, 48, of Minnetonka: "The politicians' ads in most cases were very shallow; people saying that somebody else is going to raise taxes, when in some cases that person didn't have the power to do that."

In Rogers, there were more complaints on the same theme. Rita Walstrom, 40, said she went into the political season thinking things would be "painless." Her husband, Mark, is running for Rogers City Council. "I'm stunned and disappointed that politics could sink so low, even at this level. My husband has refused to be negative. He just won't go down that road.

"But everything I read and hear on every political level seems to be negative," Walstrom said. "I just hope whoever is elected will put the citizens first."

Eli Chouinard, 60, who works at Walgreen's in Rogers, said, "I don't really know what to think from what I'm hearing anymore. I support Mark Kennedy. I'm definitely for Michele Bachmann, even though I like Patty Wetterling but don't think she's a politician," Chouinard said. "I get a lot of my information from the ads I see on TV, and they haven't made a lot of sense."

Said Ellie LeBlanc, of St. Cloud: "This is the fifth or sixth time I've ever voted, and it's been the hardest time yet."

LeBlanc, of St. Cloud, said she is voting for Bachmann. "I've heard a lot of bad things about Wetterling and how liberal she is and how she feels about the war. But if I hear one more negative ad on the radio, I'll scream."

Kevin Schirmers, 54, a salesman from St. Joseph, Wetterling's home town, was voting for Wetterling -- and against negative ads.

"Patty's a little more liberal than I want, but she is a straight shooter and will do her best," Schirmers said. "At least she's not negative. I don't know how these campaigns got so negative, but I'm going to vote my heart and not vote for one ticket. Maybe I'll vote for gridlock."

In Anoka, at least two potential voters were poised to pass on this election.

"I probably won't vote," said Micheal Hoffman, 33, of Winthrop, who was at the courthouse to retrieve a birth certificate. "I'm not excited about any of the candidates."

And Matthew Briseno, 21, of St. Paul, walked along Main Street in Anoka, staring at a cluster of Wetterling sign holders on one corner and Bachmann backers a block away.

"With everyone putting out negative views, I'm not sure if I'll vote," he said.

Andy Leith, 51, of Minnetonka, was taking nothing for granted, including his right to vote. He said he got to the polling place early even though he normally votes later in the evening.

"I wanted to get my vote in, in case of a car wreck and I'm killed later," said Leith, a geologist who works for Hennepin County. "I'd like my vote to count, and I wanted to make sure I got it in."

Paul Levy • 612-673-4419 • PAUL LEVY plevy@startribune.com