16 percent of voters cast ballots in primary

By Herald staff (Contact) | Austin Daily Herald

Published Saturday, September 13, 2008

Mower County Auditor-Treasurer Doug Groh canvassed the 2008 State Primary Election results in Mower County and found no changes in the results.

A team of canvassers examined the Sept. 9 vote county Friday.

According to Groh, 3,492 people voted among the 21,640 registered voters.

There were 180 absentee ballots cast.

Sixteen percent of the registered voters participated in the Sept. 9 election.

The voting was marred by two tragic unavoidable emergencies: An election judge in Rose Creek suffered a heart attack and the son of a Racine election judge died, necessitating him to leave his voting precinct duties Sept. 9.

The voting results were received shortly after 8:30 p.m.

Two and a half hours later, the data was entered into the Minnesota Secretary of state’s election center and the auditor-treasurer and his staff went home.

This marked the third time the county’s new automated election equipment was used: in 2006, the Grand Meadow school district’s special referendum election, last year, and now the 2008 primary.

The new equipment functioned well, according to Groh, with only minor problems such as the lack of adequate electricity for the machines at the new Bennington Township Hall.

Groh praised all the election judges and precinct volunteers.

Mower County has 39 precincts. Six are in the city of Austin and six others are shared precincts in greater Mower County.

Bennington, Sargeant, Grand Meadow and Frankford voted to move their township election to the Nov. 4 2008 State General Election.

Among other primary election minutiae Groh recorded were eight federal overseas voters’ ballots.

Those could be military personnel, but, Groh said, the total hadn’t been broken down yet to determine how many.

There were 260 new voters who registered on election day.

Austin city clerk Lucy Johnson reported city vote totals were canvassed Thursday without any changes to the candidates’ totals.

The city of Austin’s six voting precincts reported 2,154 of the registered total and a 17.23 percent share of the eligible voters.

The Nov. 4 State General Election should attract a higher percentage of voters, considering it is a presidential election year.

Locally, a portion of Mower County voters who live in the Blooming Prairie Independent School District will also vote for a school referendum.

For more information about voting, go online to www.sos.state.mn.us or visit the Mower County Auditor-Treasurer Office in the Law Enforcement Center in downtown Austin.