Did Minnesota set a record for voter participation in the 2024 election?

There are a few things Minnesota is known for around the country: hot dish, cold winters and, as it turns out, voting.

Minnesota recorded strong voter participation in the 2024 election, the secretary of state’s office said Wednesday. Around 76% of eligible voters in Minnesota cast a ballot. The figure is not final, the secretary of state’s office added, until the results are certified.

Voter turnout this year beat 2016′s turnout of 74.72% but failed to reach the record-breaking 79.96% turnout in 2020, according to the secretary of state.

“All over the state, we heard about voters excited to get out and make their voices heard before and on Election Day,” Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon said in a statement. “Minnesotans proved once again that we are committed to our communities by showing up at the polls.”

Ahead of Election Day, Simon said he hoped Minnesota would rank No. 1 in voter participation, as it has in the past. In 2022, Maine took the top honor.

Votes are still being tabulated across the country, but initial results point to Minnesota competing for the top spot this year. The University of Florida’s Election Lab ranked Minnesota’s turnout rate as the highest in the nation, with Wisconsin and Michigan also in the top five.

The Democratic nominee for president has won Minnesota every election cycle since Jimmy Carter in 1976, with Richard Nixon in 1972 being the last Republican nominee to win the state.

Leo Pomerenke is a University of Minnesota student on assignment for the Minnesota Star Tribune.