As of 5 p.m. 1,600 people had voted at the Wilder Square Apartments in St. Paul’s Frogtown neighborhood. That’s equal to 80 percent of registered voters in the heavily minority precinct. What’s more, according to chief election judge Timothy Puffer, by early afternoon roughly 250 new voters had been registered.

Few problems were reported at the polling location. “It’s been very smooth,” said Republican observer Becky Brist. “No news is good news.”