New Voter Registration Plays Into High Turnout, Long Lines

When Wisconsin voters headed to the polls Tuesday in record numbers, they also turned out in a big way to register.

In Sturtevant, a village with 3,055 registered voters and just under 7,000 residents, there were 310 registrations. Village Clerk/Deputy Treasurer Mary Cole said that's on par with the 2010 gubernatorial election but falls short of the 500 or so from the 2008 Presidential election.

"Yeah, it was a lot," she agreed. "I hope this helps alleviate a registration backup in November."

Rose Woodruff, a poll worker in Sturtevant, said there was never a time throughout the day that every seat at the registration table wasn't taken.

"There's hardly been a break at all," she said. "It has been non-stop all day."

It was the same in Mount Pleasant.

Peace Lutheran Church was so busy at both the registration table and in the voting booth that workers there never had time for a break.

"We can't even stop to eat," said Jeannie Christensen, chief poll inspector. "I can't remember when it's ever been like this."

Voter registrations were gathered and delivered to Mount Pleasant Clerk/Treasurer Veronica Rudychev every hour or two in stacks of 50 to 100 just from the auditorium at Village Hall.

"I can't even guess how many we're going to have by the end of the day," she said Tuesday.

Today, Rudychev said the village is looking at about 1,400 voter registrations, which, like Sturtevat, is about 10 percent of the total registered voters throughout the village.

"Peace Lutheran alone had almost 250," she said. "I don't know if what we had Tuesday will make a difference in November, but we might be do something to try and bring the number of registrations down for that election."

Cole said turnout in November will be high, but she's not sure it will reach the same level as the recall.

"Presidential elections typically have the highest turnout no matter what," she said. "But this year we also have state representatives and a seat in congress so it could get up there."

The trend Cole said she noticed was that new registrations were a mix of younger people, perhaps casting ballots for the first time, or older residents in their 50s and 60s who were voting for the first time.

"One lady told me she had never wanted to get called for jury duty so she never registered to vote," Cole added.