City Council Meeting Date: November 14, 2017
To: Mayor and City Council
City Administrator
From: Deb Little, City Clerk
Subject:
TITLE
Approve Abstract of Votes Cast at the November 7, 2017 Special Election
BODY
Action Requested:
The Northfield City Council is being asked to adopt the attached resolution approving the abstract of votes cast at the November 7, 2017 City Special Election.
Summary Report:
The Special Election to fill the Council Member At-Large Vacancy for a one-year term was held on Tuesday, November 7, 2017. Unofficial election results are as follows:
|
|
# of Votes |
|
Council Member At-Large |
|
|
Greg Colby |
2,806 |
|
Don McGee |
953 |
|
Jon Denison |
674 |
The voter turnout was 46.64% in Northfield with 5,485 persons voting. A breakdown of the voter turnout by precinct is included below:
|
Ward, Precinct |
Total Votes |
Percent of Turnout |
|
Ward 3, Precinct 2 |
525 |
64.66% |
|
Ward 1, Precinct 1 |
285 |
24.74% |
|
Ward 1, Precinct 2 |
1409 |
62.18% |
|
Ward 2, Precinct 1 |
846 |
55.01% |
|
Ward 2, Precinct 2 |
812 |
48.62% |
|
Ward 3, Precinct 1 |
865 |
48.93% |
|
Ward 4, Precinct 1 |
664 |
45.11% |
|
Ward 4, Precinct 2 |
79 |
7.30% |
Of the 5,485 persons that voted, 651 (nearly 12%) voted by absentee ballot. Absentee voters can vote in person or by mail. Northfield’s absentee ballot location processed 676 in-person absentee voters. In addition to our City of Northfield ballots, this location had ballots for all of Rice County 659 School District precincts.
Staff and the election judges work very hard to ensure that the elections are conducted in a fair and impartial way. There were 80 judges serving across our eight polling locations in Northfield. Election judges from neighboring townships and cities served for this election as several of our regular judges were not available. Their help was greatly appreciated. We were also fortunate to have temporary absentee ballot staff, Marsha DeGroot and Mary Olson, return to assist with the absentee voting process. In addition to their normal jobs, City staff from several departments assisted with healthcare voting, delivering voted absentee ballots, and with the heavy lifting of loading and unloading (two times), setting up, tearing down and returning over 140 pieces of election related equipment for the election.
Results for School District 659 questions can be found on the Secretary of State’s website: <http://electionresults.sos.state.mn.us/20171107>.