The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce is suing the city of Minneapolis over its ordinance to raise the minimum wage to $15 by 2024. Friday's lawsuit alleges Minneapolis' ordinance conflicts with existing state law and asks the court to prevent its enforcement. Chamber president Doug Loon says a patchwork of local laws is burdensome, especially for employers with operations in multiple cities.

City Attorney Susan Segal says the city will defend against the claims, which are similar to the chamber's challenge to Minneapolis' sick time ordinance. In that case, the courts found the city could impose that ordinance on businesses within Minneapolis. The chamber is appealing.

Minnesota's minimum wage is $9.50 per hour and will go up to $9.65 on Jan. 1. Minneapolis' ordinance raises the minimum wage within the city to $10 per hour starting Jan. 1.

High voter turnout for the Minneapolis municipal elections Tuesday caused ballot shortages and voting slowdowns at some polling locations. Turnout reached about 43 percent, the highest rate in two decades, according to the city of Minneapolis. Election workers at some polling places resorted to photocopying blank ballots when they ran out of official documents near poll close. About 106,000 ballots were cast during the race, and about 90 percent of those in-person Tuesday, according to the Minneapolis Elections and Voter Services Division. The Minneapolis Early Voting Center received a record 11,804 ballots in advance of Election Day this year, according to the city of Minneapolis.

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