The full picture · 7 sources

North Dakota general election turnout reaches 39.8%, lowest in 50 years

Updated Nov 4, 3:09 AM CT. Every fact below links to the source that reported it.

What the primary sources show

Voters in North Dakota cast ballots on Election Day in statewide and legislative races, two statewide measures, and one local measure. [Bismarck Tribune]
The Secretary of State reported 239,057 ballots cast on election night, or 39.8% of eligible voters. [KFYR-TV]
That is the lowest general election turnout in North Dakota in the last 50 years, below the previous low of 43% in the 2022 general election. [KFYR-TV]
Of the total, 135,098 ballots were cast on Election Day, 50,493 were cast early, and 53,466 were absentee or mail ballots. [KFYR-TV]
Secretary of State turnout reports rose through the day: 21% at 10 a.m., 27% at 1 p.m., and 32% at 4 p.m. [KFYR-TV] [KFYR-TV] [KFYR-TV]
Results are unofficial until county canvassing boards meet on November 16, and the State Canvassing Board certifies them on November 18. [KFYR-TV]

What were the results of the statewide measures, the local measure, and the legislative and statewide races? None of the sources report vote totals.
Why did turnout fall below the 43% set in 2022? The sources do not explain the drop.
What were turnout figures by city or county? The S3 headline names Bismarck, but no city or county breakdown is given.

Bismarck Tribune: A live blog previewed the day, listing the statewide and legislative races and the two statewide measures plus one local measure, with no results yet. Read it → · Paywall
Bismarck Tribune: A Tribune results page said results would appear after 8 p.m. Central and carried no vote totals or turnout figures. Read it → · Paywall
KFYR-TV: A KFYR report of the Secretary of State's 10 a.m. turnout count (128,000 ballots, 21%); the headline names Bismarck, but the text gives no city-level figure. Read it → · Ads
KFYR-TV: A KFYR report of the 1 p.m. count (162,000 ballots, 27%), noting another update was due at 4 p.m. Read it → · Ads
KFYR-TV: A KFYR report of the 4 p.m. count (195,000 ballots, 32%) framed as a statewide figure, with unofficial results due at 8 p.m. Read it → · Ads
KX News: A KX News results page that carried no vote totals or turnout figures; the visible text is mostly unrelated shopping and sign-in content. Read it → · Ads
KFYR-TV: An election-night report that gave the final turnout (39.8%, though its headline said 39.9%), a breakdown by voting method, a quote from Secretary of State Michael Howe about 53 counties and 3,000 poll workers, and the certification dates. Read it → · Ads

701 News writes these summaries from the sources above and checks every sentence against them. Read the originals for the full reporting. Corrections