'We've got a long way' to go: Minnehaha County ballots will be counted into Wednesday morning

Ballot counting in Minnehaha County will go well into Wednesday morning, according to county auditor Ben Kyte.

At about 10:30 p.m., fewer than 20 poll workers were left in the ballot counting room Tuesday night on the third floor of the Minnehaha County Administration building. Asked shortly after polls closed at 7 p.m., he anticipated election officials wouldn't finish counting for the county until somewhere between 2 to 4 a.m.

About 20,000 ballots had been counted by then, said Kyte. With an active voter population of 130,000 and an expected turnout of 70%, Kyte told the Argus Leader poll workers will need to process an estimated 90,000 ballots.

More:Polls are now closed, but voter turnout has 'steady' in Sioux Falls for Election Day, officials say

"We've got a long way we still have to go," Kyte said. "It's just a matter of processing now."

Kyte said voting ran relatively smooth and there were limited issues at the polls, aside from people showing up at the wrong polling locations.

Based on absentee ballots, voter turnout was a less than 15%. All evidence from the polls point to that Election Day was busy across Minnehaha County, Kyte said. Anecdotally, lines were out the door when polls opened, and at least one polling location reported a more than 30-minute wait time.

"The anecdotal evidence is that they had a good turnout," he said.

Final election results can be found on the South Dakota Secretary of State website.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Vote counting in Minnehaha County will continue Wednesday