Hennepin County voters were among the Minnesotans who turned out in full force to make their voices heard, setting a new record for participation in a non-presidential year.
“It was a really awesome year turnout for a midterm,” said Nathan Janicek, voter engagement liaison for Hennepin County. “We had just over 669,000 ballots cast this year in comparison to the last midterm election in 2022 when we had about 579,000 ballots cast.”
Janicek calculates that approximately 74% of all registered voters in Minnesota’s most populous county voted by absentee ballot, at early voting centers or in person on Election Day.
“One of the great things about Minnesotans is that people are active and engaged. People were ready to vote, they were looking into candidates and the researching the races that would be on their ballot so they were prepared when they voted,” Janicek said.
“It seems like Minnesotans were itching to make their voices heard.”
In addition to statewide races for US Senator, every congressional district, both houses of the legislature and the executive offices (like governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, and auditor) voters in Hennepin County also cast their ballots on high profile for county attorney, sheriff and county commissioners. Some cities also had municipal and school board elections.
The high percentage of voter engagement extended across the state. According to the Minnesota Secretary of State’s office, more than 2.8 million Minnesotans cast ballots in the 2026 Statewide General Election, breaking the previous record for midterm participation from 2018.
Janicek pointed to a high number of younger voters who cast ballots.
“We saw record youth turnout in the Primary Election and that momentum really continued. We were out at some of the colleges and universities in Hennepin County and these voters were prepared and excited, especially the first time voters,” he said.
He also noted that 16 and 17 year olds can pre-register to vote right now so that they are prepared to enter their information once they turn 18 and will be set to their cast ballots for the General Election.
Janicek said that there may be eligible voters who did not cast ballots this year, but are now motivated to participate and be ready to vote next time, for the General Election in 2028.
“Now is the perfect time to get ready for that,” he said. “You can checking your voter registration, make sure to update any name or address changes, registered get an absentee ballot application sent to you.”
For more information about voting, go to the Secretary of State’s comprehensive website at mnvotes.gov.
