The Sioux Falls School District will indeed see three new schools rise between now and 2024 now that voters have given their official blessing to $190 million school bond.

With overwhelming support, the bond passed at about 11 p.m. Tuesday with higher than 80 percent approval from more than 18,000 voters. Polls closed at 7 p.m. and ballots were hand-counted for more than four hours.

It’s the first bond to pass since 1997. When the final results came in, Superintendent Brian Maher said voters spoke "loud and clear."

“I’m bullish on the future of the school district without a doubt, but I’ve said each year to our staff there’s never been a better time to be in the Sioux Falls School District,” Maher said. “And that’s really true today.”

The turnout was lower than the last bond election, with about 17 percent of registered votes showing up Tuesday compared to 21 percent more than two decades ago, said Doug Morrison, the district's research, innovation and accountability director.

But the district only needed the right 17 percent to show up for it to pass, he chuckled. He said he was "eternally optimistic" about the turnout. The district needed at least 60 percent to approve the bond for it to pass.

They reached that handily.

“I’m shocked at the margin,” Maher said at around 10:30 p.m. “I really thought there would be an affirmative vote. I thought that was likely. To have the margin be where it is currently, if that holds, is just a surprise to me.”

In addition to new elementary, middle and high schools, the bond also includes safety and equity changes to 14 other campuses during the next 10 years. And with the first two new schools expected to be built by 2021 or 2022, redrawing school boundaries to address ongoing overcrowding issues is also on the horizon, school officials said.

More:Will spending $190 million on brick-and-mortar make Sioux Falls schools more equitable?

The district had more than 3,000 absentee ballots come in prior to Election Day, and some of the 13 voting centers Tuesday saw higher than anticipated turnout, election officials said.

Election officials attributed the turnout to the fact that the centers were open to anyone and not limited to certain neighborhoods or precincts. Others attributed the turnout to the a new computerized check-in system.

More:There’s a lot in this $190 million school bond. Here’s what to know before you vote.

Officials were scanning voter IDs at the door, and voters were leaving within 15-30 seconds afterward at some locations because the process kept lines short, they said.

Overall, however, voter turnout fluctuated from center to center, with no recognizable, collective opposition campaign to the bond in sight.

Overwhelming support: 'It's a pretty clear need'

For voter Tiffany Hohn, the election was a chance for her to support her husband, a middle school teacher at one of the overcrowded campuses on the west side of town. She voted for the bond.

More:Sioux Falls School District eyes land options for new high school, middle school

“I wanted to support the growth of our school system to help reduce that overpopulation and have balance at each of the schools,” Hohn said. “I often get to hear just how overcrowded the school can be. And with that situation, there’s been conversation about a southeast middle school being built. That would be very good.”

At the Career and Technology Academy, one of the few centers located at a Sioux Falls school, students had a chance to experience voting for the first time.

Election officials had four students vote and had to turn away others who attended the school but weren’t district students. The CTE campus serves nine school districts overall.

“Kudos to the young folks though, because when you get a little older like myself, you realize the ability to vote is your right,” Election superintendent Mike Snowden, a veteran, said. “It’s also a privilege. I’ve been in countries in my lifetime where you don’t get to vote. You didn’t get the privilege and it wasn’t a right. It is here, and we’re pretty lucky.”

Across town, at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, more than 630 voters turned out before 2:30 p.m., said Elections Superintendent Pat Haberer.

But she has had to turn away Brandon Valley and Harrisburg residents who thought they were within the Sioux Falls school district, and she's encountered frustrated voters who went to regular precinct locations only to realize the locations were closed.

Haberer anticipated the center would see more than 1,000 voters before polls closed, and she was right. By the end of the night, Gloria Dei brought in more than 1,200 ballots.

More:Election Day voter's guide: What to know about Sioux Falls' $190 million school bond

For soon-to-be mother Melisa Farke, that right means helping shape the future for her children, she said. Due in January with her first child, she voted for the $190 million bond.

“A lot of my friends are teachers or have kids in school, and it’s a pretty clear need,” Farke said. “It’s overcrowded. Whether or not we raise our kids in Sioux Falls, I wanted to do something good for the community.”

District officials will hold a press conference at 10:15 a.m. Wednesday at the district's Instructional Planning Center to discuss what happens next with the bond, and to share more details about the overall voter turnout.