ST.PAUL -- Minnesota has ranked No. 1 for general election voter turnout across the country since 2008, according to data from the Minnesota Secretary of State. How did Minnesota get to the top?
One expert says it may be tied to laws in the state and even the ancestry of its residents.
Roots in Europe may be partially responsible for Minnesota's high turnout rates, said Tim Lindberg, associate professor of political science at the University of Minnesota Morris.
"Northern European nations, and especially Scandinavian ones, have strong cultures of civic engagement in the community," said Tim Lindberg, associate professor of political science at the University of Minnesota, Morris. "So settlers to Minnesota largely brought that ethos with them, and it continues to matter today."
Lindberg said civic engagement -- for example, Minnesota's high rates of volunteering -- translates directly to voting. He also cited voting laws in Minnesota, such as same-day registration or absentee voting, that make it easy for people to vote.
In the most recent presidential election, Minnesota's average voter turnout was 81.56%, compared to the country's average of 76.8%.
How did Minnesota's voter turnout vary internally in 2020?
In each county, the Secretary of State's Office measured the percentage of total eligible voters who cast ballots in 2020. Minnesota mostly fell in line with typical voter turnout trends, such as the correlation between socioeconomic status and turnout rates, according to the United States Census Bureau.
Suburbs just outside of the Twin Cities like Carver, Washington and Scott counties -- with, respectively, 93%, 91% and 90% turnout -- all came in almost a full 15% above the country's average.
These higher-turnout counties closer to the metro also have high socioeconomic status , according to the Minnesota Department of Health's most recent data, making them consistent with typical voter trends . But Cook, with 89%, appeared as an outlier.
Cook, Otter Tail, Douglas and Pope counties stuck out as rural counties that showed up in force in 2020, Ramsey appeared as a sore spot in the Twin Cities, and some of Minnesota's lower-income counties came in with the lowest turnout.
Cook County, all the way up on the northeast borders of Minnesota, had the fourth-highest turnout in the state.
"In Cook County, there are quite a few people who either lived in the Twin Cities and they moved there, or they're (in Cook County) because there's artists communities," Lindberg said. "There are some enclaves of higher, more highly educated people who tend to vote at higher rates."
Otter Tail, Douglas and Pope counties -- with, respectively, 82%, 83% and 81.8% turnout -- are all rural areas that had surprisingly higher turnout rates in 2020. While these counties have a few larger cities with populations above 10,000 -- Fergus Falls and Alexandria, for example -- Lindberg said the numbers are impressive.
"In and of itself, for a rural county to have a voting rate in an election like that well above 60%, in most cases, is really impressive," he said.
What's going on in the Twin Cities?
Why was Ramsey County, which had a turnout of 77.9% in 2020, almost a full 10% lower than Hennepin at 86%? Lindberg pointed to Ramsey County's lack of wealthier suburbs that are found in other metropolitan counties.
"(In) Hennepin County, which obviously has Minneapolis in it, the lower voting rates that you would expect in a huge urban area with lots of people of color who tend to have lower voting rates is offset by the fact that you also have very wealthy suburbs with highly educated folks among the highest voting populations," Lindberg said.
He added that institutions such as colleges, mental hospitals or prisons can push these numbers down as well.
Counties with the lowest voter turnout in 2020
1. Wilkin, 69.8%
2. Koochiching, 69.7%
3. Norman, 69.6%
4. Pine, 69.6%
5. Stevens, 69.1%
6. Pennington, 68%
7. Winona, 67.3%
8. Polk, 66.5%
9. Nobles, 66.5%
10. Mahnomen, 61.7%
The counties with the lowest turnout rates -- Mahnomen with 61%, Nobles with 66% and Polk with 66.5% -- all match the trend of rural areas with lower rates, but Lindberg said there could be other factors at play, like socioeconomic status.
While not true for all of the lowest-turnout counties, some have higher poverty rates, according to the Minnesota Department of Health's most recent data. For example, roughly 23% of Mahnomen County's population is in poverty, and Nobles and Koochiching counties have a 14% poverty rate.
"The rural counties that don't have that [high of turnout] tend to be the ones that are the poorest in the state because lower economic status is associated with lower voting rates," Lindberg said, explaining this is most often because of access to education.
Winona County, at 67% turnout in 2020, is another example of a county that could be skewed by having a college campus -- Winona State University.
What could drive Minnesota's voter turnout in 2024?
Looking specifically at rural and red communities, the "DFL trifecta" -- a Democratic Minnesota governor, House and Senate -- from the past two years could bring people to the polls.
"It was, regardless of whether you're for it or against it, it was a lot of change and a lot of easy targets for the opposing party to say, 'Wow, they went really far in one, one particular small, you know, legislative session,' " Lindberg said. "Republicans might come out, particularly in Minnesota, as a response to what happened in the legislative session."
As for Democrats, Lindberg pointed to more national trends in politics rather than local ones.
"Even though in Minnesota, we've passed laws to protect it further, turnout could be driven by continuing concerns about abortion access in the United States, and continuing concerns about democracy and what a Trump presidency might mean in that regard," he said.
The full overview of Minnesota's voter turnout in the 2020 election can be viewed here.