The turnout in the region could be exceptional on this primary election day in Wisconsin.
Oneida County Clerk Tracy Hartman says initial response indicates a larger than normal turnout...
"February primaries are historically very small, we don't have a very large turnout. For example, four years ago in a February primary in the Town of Crescent, which has 1,400 registered voters we had 19 show up to vote. We're definitely seeing a higher percentage of people calling about absentee ballots. So we're anticipating a turnout larger for February..."
Hartman says absentee ballots are an indicator of more-than-normal interest...
"Again, as an example, in Crescent because I'm the most familiar with Crescent, we've already had 50 absentee ballots for February, which is rather large for a February..."
She thinks the contested races for the open 7th Congressional seat are spurring a good deal of interest. That race, and a school referendum and contested school board races for Lakeland Union High School could boost interest in that area. Hartman predicts the turnout..
"So for a number turnout...I think we're going to see it compared to a normal April turnout, which is about 3-4,000 out of our 24,000 registered voters..."
We'll have early results tonight about 9 p.m.
