Politics & Government

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Turnout at WHS Surpasses 35 Percent

UPDATED: 7:05 p.m. Tuesday

With an hour left before polls close, the turnout at - Wards 9-12 - has exceeded expectations.

Poll worker Denise Collins said more than 35 percent of eligible voters had already been to the polls prior to 7 p.m., surpassing a mark many have predicted would be the state's turnout total. And during the final hour, a steady stream of voters still worked their way into the district's community room.

Find out what's happening in Greenfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"It's been busy all day," Collins said.

Collins reminded voters that if they are at a polling place by 8 p.m., their vote will still count, but no one will be allowed into the polling room if they arrive after 8 p.m.

Find out what's happening in Greenfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Meanwhile, John Laskoski of the city's Division of Public Works was on hand to drop off the last of the absentee ballots that still have to be reconstructed thanks to a printing error that affected all Milwaukee County ballots late last month.

Laskowski said a team of DPW workers is basically "on-call" during an election should a poll worker or anyone in the city clerk's office need assistance. But other than delivering absentee ballots to various polling places, Laskowski said Tuesday has been quiet.

Checking in at the Community Center

UPDATED: 3:15 p.m. Tuesday

At approximately 2:30 p.m., turnout was as high as 22 percent in Ward 6 at the , according to election workers there this afternoon. The other three wards, 5, 7 and 8, were not far behind (high teens or around 20 percent)

One election worker said the number of registered voters had increased quite a bit since February's primary.

There have been a handful of ballots that were ripped up (but not thrown away) because of what an election official called an "overvote." Most overvotes have involved a voter casting a vote for both parties in the presidential preference.

And in a quick exit poll, of the 15 people who shared their presidential preference vote with Greenfield Patch, seven voted for Mitt Romney, four for Rick Santorum, three for President Obama and one for Ron Paul.

More About Absentee Ballots

UPDATED: 1:05 p.m. Tuesday

Voting totals are never final the night of an election, but this time around, if a race is tight, for example the Greenfield or Whitnall School Board races, we might not know until early next week who comes out on top.

Absentee ballots postmarked today or earlier that arrive at the city clerk’s office at City Hall by 4 p.m. Friday will still be counted toward the final tally, according to Greenfield City Clerk Jennifer Goergen.

Goergen said the city sent out about 1,500 absentee ballots, and late tonight, the city will post how many absentee ballots are not yet accounted for on its website.

Speaking of absentee ballots, election workers across the city will be using any “free time” they have reconstructing absentee ballots that have already been returned. .

Goergen assembled a two-person “ballot reconstruction team” of former city clerk Donna Rynders and recently retired longtime clerk’s office employee Sandy Knapper to handle many of the reconstructions and oversee the intricate and time-consuming process.

Voter Turnout Appears Up

UPDATED: 12:20 p.m. Tuesday

Voter turnout at the , where residents from Wards 16-18 cast their votes, was more than 10 percent as of 11:30 a.m., according to one poll worker.

Experts have predicted the election, which includes a Republican presidential primary, will reach 30-35 percent turnout, putting this particular polling place on or ahead of the anticipated pace.

Another worker said there were seven people waiting outside the library at 6:45 a.m. before the polling location opened.

According to City Clerk Jennifer Goergen, who stopped at the library while making the rounds to the city’s polling places, the city had only a few minor issues with voting machines and some faulty ballot pens but thanks largely to the 114 election workers hired for today's vote, things are going smoothly.

Absentee Ballots Will be Reconstructed

UPDATED: 10:45 a.m. Tuesday

Greenfield City Clerk Jennifer Goergen told WISN 12 yesterday the city will have approximately 1,500 absentee ballots that will have to be reconstructed by election workers.

Goergern and other area clerks . But absentee ballots, had to be sent out before the proper batch of ballots was created to ensure voters were given enough time to return them.

So, the absentee ballots, which cannot be read by the counting machines, will need to inputed by hand.

Candidates Report Missing Campaign Signs

UPDATED: 9:45 a.m. Tuesday

At least two candidates in the race noticed campaign signs missing in the last week.

told Patch yesterday five of her signs in what she described as prime locations were taken from supporters' yards over the weekend.

And Friday morning, another candidate came to the to see if any of his signs had turned up there after he noticed two of his signs missing from the corner of South 108th Street and West Layton Avenue, according to the police department's weekly log.

Join Our Live Election Day Coverage

Original story: 9:10 a.m. Tuesday

It’s Election Day, and Greenfield Patch has got you covered.

All day long, we’ll be providing you local updates from some of the city’s polling places, so be sure to check this story regularly into the evening hours.

And as results start to roll in after the polls close, we’ll be letting you know who’s leading and who’s got ground to make up.

Once all the results are available, we’ll of course have stories with reactions from the winners.

And at noon, we’ll be launching the live presidential blog, with updates from all around the 15 Patch communities.

And we want you to be a part of the conversation. Join the presidential blog, leave comments on this story, or go to Facebook and post a comment there. Let us know who you voted for and why, or what your voting experience was like. Did you run into issues? Was it smooth sailing?

And if you're still not sure or , we can help you out with that too.

It’s a big day, Greenfield. So join the fun!


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