Big Question is Voter Turnout

The biggest election day question in Brookfield arguably isn't who will win any race on the ballot but how many people will vote.

Will Republican voters turn out in historic levels to counter heavy Democratic voting in Dane and Milwaukee counties, with a hotly contested state Supreme Court race on the line?

If history is any measure, state Supreme Court races have not generated high turnout in Brookfield.

The strongest spring general election turnout in Brookfield in the past decade came in the two years that Elmbrook School District sought referendum approval to renovate and expand its high schools (56 and 44 percent turnout). Voting was also higher in years with mayoral races (40 and 33 percent turnout), compared to years when a state Supreme Court race was the big ticket on the ballot (22 and 21 percent).

Total Brookfield votes cast in spring tilts have ranged widely from 4,172 to 15,096, according to the city clerk's office.

That said, a week before Tuesday's election, had already exceeded the total absentee votes cast in the last state Supreme Court race in 2009. And the high court race almost has become a referendum on Gov. Scott Walker's move to eliminate nearly all collective bargaining rights for most public employees.

On Tuesday's ballot are races for Supreme Court and Waukesha County Circuit Court. City residents and some town residents will vote in two contested Elmbrook School Board races. Other town residents will vote in a Waukesha School Board race.

, Prosser is challenged for a third term by Kloppenburg a state prosecutor. , Assistant Waukesha County District Attorney Lloyd Carter is trying to unseat incumbent Judge Kathleen Stilling.  

On the Elmbrook School Board, are vying for the seat being vacated by Gary Jones. And incumbent School Board member .

, incumbents Barb Brzenk, Joe Como and Kurt O’Bryan and challenger Karin Rajnicek are vying for three seats. 

The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Voters can find their polling sites here. New voters can learn how to register to be able to vote Tuesday. 

In the Town of Brookfield, voters can find their polling sites and sample ballots here. 

For the political junkies, here are the city's statistics on spring general election voter turnout:

2010: 33 percent. Mayoral race, school board, judges, aldermen and county supervisors

2009: 21 percent. State Supreme Court race, state Superintendent of Public Instruction, school board, judges

2008: 44 percent. State Supreme Court race, Elmbrook high school building referendum, school board, judges, aldermen, county supervisors

2007: 56 percent. State Supreme Court race, Elmbrook high school building referendum, school board, judges

2006: 38 percent. Mayoral race, aldermen, judges

2005: 21 percent. State Superintendent of Public Instruction, school board, aldermen, state/county referendum

2004: 38 percent. Appeals Court judicial race, school board, aldermen, city leaf burning referendum, municipal judge

2003: 22 percent. State Supreme Court race, Waukesha County Executive, school board, judges, aldermen

2002: 40 percent. Mayoral race, school board, aldermen, county supervisors

2001: 15 percent. State Superintendent of Public Instruction, school board, judge, statewide referendum