On Tuesday, October 6, voters in Fargo will decide how they want their government — with wards, or continue as an at-large City Commission.
Angie Bear is Fargo City Clerk.
"What we would do, or what they would do, they would have to come up with a map and separate the city into different wards, and then that representative would be a part of their ward only, so you would vote for the one person in your ward instead of, you know, the whole city commission."
Bear says being the general election is so close, the city was unable to use voting machines from the county. That puts a twist on how the election will be conducted.
"When someone comes in to vote, the date of, which is October 6th, they will receive a paper ballot. And then they will also, when they check in, they won't be scanning in their ID, they'll be looked up with our paper poll book provided from the county."
Bear says this is not the first time a scheduling conflict has occurred with the election machines.
"Well, we did use it in the special election in 2023. The county's machines were, I think it was, they were getting an update, and we were unable to use them. So, it was 2023, and then I was told we probably would never need to do it again, and we are."
Bear says the city doesn't hold many special elections, so there's no real indicator of what to expect for voter turnout.
"I'm very interested to see how many turn out. We have sent out over 2,100 absentee ballots, and we have received about 1,300 back already. So, yeah, it'll be interesting to see the turnout on Tuesday."
Eligible Fargo voters can cast their ballots at one of three locations on Tuesday. They include the Fargo Dome, the Civic Center, and Atonement Lutheran Church on South University Drive. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Absentee ballots must be turned in before that 7 p.m. deadline.