Photo by Deb Gau Lyon County canvassing board met Friday to go over and approve the results of Tuesday’s elections. Travis Frederiksen, Lyon County Auditor/Treasurer Aurora Heard, and County Commissioner Paul Graupmann helped check vote reports against tapes of data from county voting equipment.

dgau@marshallindependent.com

MARSHALL — This year, Lyon County voter participation didn’t reach the record highs of the 2020 elections. Staff from the Lyon County Auditor/Treasurer’s Office estimated the turnout at a little over 80%.

A total of 13,059 people voted in Lyon County on Nov. 5, according to totals reviewed by the Lyon County canvassing board on Friday. There were 15,044 registered voters in the county at the start of Election Day, and an additional 1,372 people registered to vote. Lyon County Auditor/Treasurer Aurora Heard said there were 369 people who registered to vote before Nov. 5, and 1,003 people registered on Election Day.

In 2020, Lyon County had a voter turnout of 90.4%, which was the county’s highest turnout in over 30 years. The 2020 election also had an all-time record amount of absentee ballots.

In this year’s election, Lyon County voters cast a total of 5,416 mail and absentee ballots, compared to more than 7,000 in 2020.

Even though they didn’t set new records, the Auditor/Treasurer’s office saw a steady amount of early and absentee voters this year, Heard said. Monday – the final day for early voting – was busy. “That seemed to be a trend,” Heard said. Other counties had similar levels of activity, she said.

Members of the county canvassing board met on Friday afternoon. Canvassing is part of the process that certifies the results of an election and declares the winning candidates. Heard, together with representatives from the Lyon County Board, the city of Marshall and the Lyon County Court Administrator’s office, went over reports on the number of voters in Lyon County and votes received by county candidates.

Canvassing board members checked the totals in election reports against data from county voting equipment, and did not find any issues. Heard said the next step in the process will be for Lyon County to send its certified results to the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office. The Minnesota state canvassing board is responsible for certifying the results of statewide elections, including elections for state and federal offices.

At Friday’s canvassing board meeting, board members also drew three random Lyon County voting precincts for election equipment tests. Voting equipment from those precincts will be checked for accuracy on Nov. 14, Heard said.

Republican candidates had a clear lead among Lyon County voters, according to unofficial vote totals. Vote reports from Friday’s Lyon County canvassing board meeting showed a majority of votes going to Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential race, as well as to Republican Senate candidate Royce White, U.S. Rep. Michelle Fischbach, and Minnesota state Rep. Chris Swedzinski.

Lyon County unofficial vote totals

U.S. President

Kamala Harris (D) 4,284

Donald Trump (R) 8,400

U.S. Senator

Amy Klobuchar (D) 5,436

Royce White (R) 6,976

U.S. House District 7

AJ Peters (D) 3,890

Michelle Fischbach (R) 8,832

MN State Rep. District 15A

Chris Swedzinski (R) 8,982

Anthony Studemann (D) 3,695

Statewide unofficial vote totals

U.S. President

Kamala Harris (D) 1,653,863

Donald Trump (R) 1,516,301

U.S. Senator

Amy Klobuchar (D) 1,789,118

Royce White (R) 1,289,030

U.S. House District 7

AJ Peters (D)114,847

Michelle Fischbach (R) 274,742

MN State Rep. District 15A

Chris Swedzinski (R) 16,111

Anthony Studemann (D) 6,347