Mower County’s primary turnout was lower than in previous years but matched state voter turnout projections.

Auditor-Treasurer Doug Groh said about 1,930 Mower County residents voted Tuesday, about 9.69 percent of the 19,918 voters registered in the county.

Groh said both registered voters and primary voters were lower than previous years — about 14 percent of registered voters cast their ballots in the 2012 primary, and 17 percent did the same in 2010.

“It shows a real steep decline,” Groh said.

The county’s turnout matched the 10 percent statewide voter turnout, which aligned with projections made by Secretary of State Mark Ritchie.

Absentee balloting increased by about 30 percent within the county in this election, according to Groh’s preliminary estimates. In addition, low voter turnout in several townships and smaller cities has prompted Groh to encourage more mail balloting within rural Mower County.

“In talking with some of the townships and other smaller cities, that seems to be an idea worth pursuing,” Groh said.

Under state guidelines, townships and cities with populations under 500 can change to sending ballots by mail rather than go to polling locations, according to Groh. Yet once smaller areas make the change, they have to use mail balloting for every election onward, including presidential elections with higher turnout.

Mail balloting would have likely saved time for some cities, however. In Adams, only 22 out of 275 registered voters cast ballots in Tuesday’s primary.

In Mower County, 42 voters cast ballots for the Independence Party, 825 for the GOP, and 1,021 for DFL candidates.