Politics & Government

City Runs Out of Ballots; Town Comes Close

With voter turnout higher than projected, the city and town asked residents to use electronic voting machine instead of paper ballots.

The city ran out of election ballots Tuesday as voter turnout exceeded expectations, and the town used all but about 30 ballots, clerks said. 

Voter turnout in the city was 17 percent, more than double the 8 percent the city clerk had predicted, based on previous spring primary elections for state Supreme Court that drew 8 percent to 10 percent city turnout. 

Clerk Kristine Schmidt said she ordered enough ballots from the county to cover a 15 percent turnout, but some wards ran out during the afternoon, forcing poll workers to ask residents to use electronic voting machines.

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

Town of Brookfield Clerk Jane Carlson said town poll workers also began encouraging use of the electronic machines when it appeared ballots were going faster than expected.

Carlson ordered enough ballots for a 20 percent turnout and final turnout ended up at 15 percent.

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

"It really went well," Carlson said of the electronic voting. "We had done it a few times in the past, especially for smaller elections, as practice." 

Schmidt said the ballot shortage also was relatively uneventful in the city, adding she heard of one voter who left without voting rather than wait in line to use the single electronic machine.

Use of that machine ranged from eight voters in one ward to as many as 120 voters in another ward, she said.

The city and town each had just one race on the ballot: narrowing the field of candidates for state Supreme Court.

Incumbent Justice David T. Prosser Jr. was the clear winner in both municipalities, with challenger JoAnne F. Kloppenburg, a state Department of Justice prosecutor, in distant second place. Trailing even further were Joel Winnig, an attorney for more than 30 years, and Maria Stephens, the Appellate Division director for the State Public Defender's office.

Unofficial, unaudited results for the city were: Prosser with 4,010 votes, Kloppenburg with 371, Winnig, 152 and Stephens, 143.

In the town, results were: 616 for Prosser, 95 for Kloppenburg, 47 for Stephens and 32 for Winnig.


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