The Minneapolis City canvassing board on Nov. 10 adopted an order certifying the results of the 2025 municipal election after Elections and Voter Services reported the highest turnout on record for the city.

"This year's municipal election had the highest turnout of any Minneapolis municipal election on record," said Katie Smith, director of Elections and Voter Services, reporting that 147,702 ballots were cast, or roughly 55% of registered voters. Smith credited expanded services and outreach for the increase.

Smith told the board that Elections and Voter Services piloted a curbside voting hotline on election day across three wards and received 22 calls; the city also distributed a household voter guide in Spanish, Hmong and Somali and expanded interpreter training for election judges. Direct in-person balloting began Oct. 17; the city offered a total of 317 early-voting hours over a 46-day period, and early voting represented about 17.9% of total turnout.

On election day, staff reported that all 137 precincts opened at 7 a.m. and remained open until 8 p.m. (and until those in line had the opportunity to vote). A total of 121,259 voters cast ballots on election day, about 82.1% of all ballots, and 15,629 people used election-day registration (about 10.6% of total voters).

Elections staff completed ranked-choice tabulation for the remaining seven races on Wednesday, Nov. 5, declaring the final race just before 3 p.m.; tabulation teams worked just under six hours to finish the tabulation and to record two declared write-in candidates.

Under state law, Minnesota statutes designate the city council as the canvassing board and require the canvass to occur between the third and tenth day after the election. Smith said staff prepared a draft order that "certifies the official results of the 2025 municipal election, declares official winners in each race on the ballot, indicating the names of each person receiving votes and the number of votes received by each office voted upon," and directs the clerk to submit certified results to Hennepin County and to preserve original returns per state law.

"The declaration of final results today triggers a 7-day contest period," Smith said, summarizing the statutory window during which any eligible voter may contest a nomination or election on specified grounds.

Chair Payne moved to adopt the order certifying the canvassed returns as official and to direct the clerk to file the required records; after a second, the clerk called the roll. The board voted to adopt the order (12 ayes), and the motion carried, completing the canvass.

Mr. Carl, introducing the elections team earlier in the meeting, praised Election and Voter Services for managing what he called "an incredible municipal election, the highest on record for the city of Minneapolis." He also acknowledged staff, election judges and partners whose work contributed to the results.

Staff also identified the city’s post-election review (PER) date and selected precincts for manual hand counts. Smith said the PER is set for Nov. 20, 2025, beginning at 9 a.m. at Elections and Voter Services (transcript lists location as "9 80 East Hennepin"). The random draws resulted in these selections: the multi-seat selection for the Board of Estimate and Taxation, Ward 11 Precinct 11 and Ward 3 Precinct 11 for council hand counts, and Ward 12 Precinct 7 and Ward 13 Precinct 12 for the Board of Estimate and Taxation draw.

The board offered thanks to Elections and Voter Services staff and adjourned with no further business. The certification starts the seven-day contest period; after that period ends the city clerk will issue certificates of election to successful candidates, as required by Minnesota law.