Most House election results become official

Nearly all elections for the Minnesota House and Senate are now official.

The State Canvassing Board unanimously signed off on results from the Nov. 6 election, with the exceptions of one House and one Senate district that are subject to mandatory recounts because the candidates are less than 0.5 percent apart.

In House District 8B, where 21,288 votes were cast, Rep. Mary Franson (R-Alexandria) holds an 11-vote lead (0.05 percent) over DFL challenger Bob Cunniff. Former DFL Sen. Kevin Dahle holds a 78-vote lead (0.19 percent) over Republican Mike Dudley. More than 41,000 votes were cast in that race.

Recounts are scheduled to begin Wednesday in both districts, and the State Canvassing Board is scheduled to reconvene at 1:30 p.m. Dec. 4 to finalize the results.

“This is the largest election in our state’s history,” said Secretary of State Mark Ritchie.

State Elections Director Gary Poser said that more than 2.95 million Minnesotans (76.1 percent of eligible voters) cast ballots, 30,000 more than in the previous highest election in 2008. Nearly 528,000 people registered to vote on Election Day.

Poser and Ritchie said there was no evidence of any voter fraud.