Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News)  - Minnesota polling places were much busier yesterday than they normally are for a mid-term primary election. Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon says over 902,000 voters cast ballots yesterday or through early voting, which works out to a voter turnout rate of 22.7-percent. The number of people voting was the highest for a primary election since 1982, while the turnout rate was the highest since 1994.

The voter turnout rate in the Rochester area was even higher. Olmsted County election officials say, before factoring in the new voter registrations that took place at polling places yesterday, the turnout rate in the county was over 27-percent at around 24,000 voters. That’s double the historical average for local primary elections.

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