Blub blub.

Here is an obscurely inconsequential Minneapolis item:  

Minneapolis voting precinct located entirely in a lake

Not one voter cast a ballot in one Minneapolis precinct on Election Day. That’s because the only living species in Ward 10, Precinct 3B, is of the aquatic variety.

A newly redistricted precinct map shows 3B is located entirely in the eastern half of Lake Calhoun — the biggest lake in Minneapolis. City Clerk Casey Carl says the watery precinct is the “unintentional result of a programming error” made in drawing new ward boundary lines.

Charter Commission chairman Barry Clegg tells the Star Tribune that the mapping software couldn’t draw a line around the edge of the lake without putting a census block in the wrong ward. Clegg says it was supposed to be cleaned up for the final map, but never was.

Perhaps they're just looking out for a very special contingency.  It's my observation that the population of the eastern half of Lake Calhoun increases significantly after the ice gets thick enough to drag an ice fishing house out there.

But generally, Minneapolis stays on top of things.  The error came to light when a reporter asked why nobody voted in 3B.

If you'd like to see the watery precinct, you can look at the map here.

 

Comments

[Christy P.]

Mapping is funny. When our most recent census data came out for Utah it included people living apparently at the University Hospital and adjacent wildland canyon. That must have been one dedicated census worker.

[MelanieB]

Hilarious.