Agenda
Transcript
AI TRANSCRIPT
This transcript was generated automatically from audio using AI and hasn't been reviewed by a person — it can contain mistakes, including plausible-sounding sentences that were never actually said. Treat it as a starting point, not a verbatim record.
[1:26]
Please rise as you're able for the pledge of allegiance.
[1:47]
Welcome everybody to our August 14th, 2026 City of Rochester canvassing board meeting.
[1:55]
Clerk, Reina, please call the roll.
[2:00]
Good afternoon.
[2:01]
Councilmember Keen.
[2:03]
Councilmember Miller.
[2:05]
Councilmember Wall.
[2:06]
Here.
[2:07]
Councilmember Fredericks.
[2:09]
Councilmember Palmer's absent.
[2:11]
Councilmember Doring.
[2:12]
Here.
[2:13]
Council President Shoebring.
[2:15]
Mayor Norton's present.
[2:17]
You see the order of the agenda.
[2:19]
Is there a motion to approve the agenda?
[2:21]
So move.
[2:22]
Move by Councilmember.
[2:25]
Well.
[2:26]
And seconded by Council Member Miller, all in favor say aye.
[2:31]
Post say nay.
[2:32]
Motion passes.
[2:33]
We have reports and recommendations.
[2:35]
One item on today's agenda, which is the canvas of the August 11th, 2026 primary election results.
[2:45]
City Clerk and case will please take it away.
[2:49]
Good afternoon, Mayor.
[2:50]
Council President and Council members.
[2:52]
Today we can be as the canvassing board as required by state statute to officially certify the results of the August 11th, 2026 election.
[3:02]
The county canvassing board met this morning and officially certified their results.
[3:06]
And then our abstract from the canvassing board, which will sign at the end of the meeting tonight, we'll go to the state and the results will be official.
[3:14]
We have all of the summary statements and precinct reports in the folder if you would like to review them.
[3:20]
Otherwise, they're all compiled in abstract, which was in the packet.
[3:26]
Deputy Clerk Christine Cartwright, but review our results from the meeting.
[3:34]
Thank you, Anne.
[3:38]
So we have 80 precincts which are slid across six wards, the 39 polling locations that
[3:46]
were used for this election, which you guys approved back at the end of last year.
[3:50]
We recruited 586 election judges.
[3:52]
At the start of the day, there was 79,712 registered voters at 7am.
[3:58]
Over the course of the day, we registered 725 people for same day registration.
[4:04]
That is a noticeable increase compared to 2024 where we were south of 200 people on election day.
[4:12]
Over the course of the day, there were 24,876 folks cast of which 6,046 were absentee.
[4:18]
I want to take a moment here just to put that into a little bit of state context.
[4:23]
So the state of Minnesota's primary election had about a 25% turnout.
[4:29]
Ones that county had about 29% and the thing that drove up ones that county's number was
[4:35]
Rochester's, which had a 31% turnout. So we are above average for the state of Minnesota,
[4:42]
which obviously historically is one of the top turnout states in the nation.
[4:46]
So it's something to be proud of.
[4:51]
Back to you, I believe that.
[4:54]
So looking at our contest, then, for November, we'll have Jessica Sia and Joe Powers had moved.
[5:00]
forward for the mayor positions. There was not a primary in one or three, and in word five, Rishi Gupta, and
[5:08]
Shon Palmer will be on the ballot. So we just want to thank the City of Rochester voters for their turn out.
[5:14]
We especially want to thank our wonderful team of election judges that work at the polls. We tell them all the time.
[5:20]
We could not put on the election without them, and we really appreciate their service to their community.
[5:26]
Our partnership with Olmsteg County and their elections office, we want to thank them for all of their hard work, our part maintenance, teammates, and the public works teammates really help us out with putting the signs out, getting the golf carts, lots of logistics, the day before us, we appreciate them, and then also our partnership with Rochester Public Schools and all of our churches that have our polling locations, we appreciate them working with our judges and providing us space.
[5:55]
So, we would just request that you adopt a resolution, adopting the results.
[6:01]
If you had any questions on any of them, like I said, we have all of the individual
[6:05]
precincts tabulations with us today.
[6:07]
Thank you, Clerk K. So, any questions?
[6:10]
Is there a motion?
[6:11]
I'd like to make a motion adopting a resolution declaring the results of the August 11th,
[6:15]
2026, primary election and execution of the election abstracts.
[6:19]
Second.
[6:20]
Motion made by Council Member Miller, seconded by Council Member Doring.
[6:23]
any discussion on council member King?
[6:27]
Yeah, I just, I know there was a meeting really
[6:28]
this morning, Mayor Norton,
[6:30]
went through the canvassing, do you have any like
[6:32]
minor report for us or just?
[6:35]
Well, in the, if the Yomstake County level,
[6:37]
we didn't have any of the city results,
[6:39]
so those were not checked, but we did go through a process.
[6:42]
We're all the, all of us in the room, take a folder,
[6:46]
we go through it, we double check the numbers to make sure
[6:49]
that the numbers on all the tapes and the sheets
[6:52]
at up to what is on the form that you will be signing and so that is part of that process.
[6:59]
Apparently it isn't part of this process but they do check on all the county commission
[7:03]
races and state races. Thank you. And then just on the voter registration that the number of people
[7:11]
walk in there, there's an implication there that people obviously are moving in and out all the time.
[7:16]
What cleans up those people as they move out of Rochester? What gets them off of our voter registration?
[7:23]
They could register somewhere else in the state and their registration would be transferred.
[7:28]
Okay. Also in the voter registration, those may not have all been new voters.
[7:32]
You could have moved in your same precinct or moved across town and registered also.
[7:37]
So that is included in that figure.
[7:39]
Okay.
[7:40]
New or updated registrations.
[7:42]
Yeah. And then just last question.
[7:44]
I know there's 39 different polling places.
[7:46]
80 precincts, did we have any anomalies or any problems with either challenges or anomalies
[7:55]
that happened at our polling places?
[7:56]
Not that I'm aware of.
[7:57]
We did have one party observer at a polling location, which is prescribed by statute and
[8:02]
they were very interested in the process and the judges had no issues with any of it.
[8:08]
So we're not aware of any issues with any of the polling places.
[8:11]
Thank you.
[8:12]
Any further discussion, council member Miller?
[8:15]
I just add to this list of thanks also to state partners in the state legislature
[8:19]
for making voting and very accessible to the orders of Minnesota
[8:22]
and I think that shows in our election results.
[8:24]
And I'm very proud that we are able to exceed the state average of a very high turnout state.
[8:31]
All in favor say aye.
[8:33]
I will say nay motion passes unanimously.
[8:35]
Is there a motion to adjourn?
[8:38]
Second motion made by council member Frederick seconded by council member.
[8:41]
All in favor say aye.
[8:43]
All right, I'll post a name, we are adjourned, and we're going to need to sign this.