Mount Pleasant-Sturtevant Election Central: Updated 10:00 p.m.

We'll be checking in at the polls all day today, and bringing you stories from the polling places. But Patch also wants to make sure you've got all the information you need before casting your ballot. Information on the races and candidates on the ballots can be found at the bottom of this story. 

We'll be hosting a live, Election Day conversation online starting at 2 p.m. Click here and sign up to join the conversation. Our Wisconsin Election Results story will have results as soon as we get them.

Residents who suspect instances of voter fraud or discrimination are encouraged to report it to James L. Santelle, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin and Assistant US Attorney Richard G. Frohling. They will both be on duty throughout Election Day and may be contacted at (414) 297-4528.

LIVE 2012 ELECTION RESULTS

Presidential and U.S. Senate results only represent votes in Mount Pleasant and Sturtevant. Congressional and state legislative results are for entire district.

LAST UPDATE 10 a.m. Nov. 7: Results from 100 percent of both Mount Pleasant and Sturtevant reporting.

Obama-Biden

Sturtevant, 8:30 p.m.

Chief Election Inspector Lorrie Slesarenko said 2927 of the village’s 5264 registered voters casted ballots on Tuesday. Slesarenko concluded the night by being the last voter.

Slesarenko said it was a fantastic turnout and the best they’ve ever had.
When asked when they were the busiest Slesarenko replied, “When wasn’t it busy?”

Village clerk Mary Cole said they received 835 early absentee ballots, which is more than usual. It took the volunteers almost the whole day to enter them into the voting machine. Cole said they finished entering early absentee ballots 15 minutes before the polls closed.

Cole added that the lines were busy in the morning but with so many early absentee ballots the lines were manageable.

 Mount Pleasant/Sturtevant 7:30 p.m.

The Jacob family - Don and daughter Courtney - cast their ballot at Mount Pleasant Village Hall with only about 90 minutes left on the clock. Son Justin, 16, goes with his dad when Don Jacob goes to cast his ballot. Justin Jacob said he's looking forward to voting.

"I want to be able to choose," he said. "It's about standing up for what you believe in."

Don Jacob believes the President Barack Obama will come out the winner, but it will be close.

"Romney gave the president a run, but Obama will squeak this one out," he said.

Courtney Jacob, 20, said she thinks the results will not come in tonight because the race is so close.

"It's really a toss up," she said. "There is a clear line between the two."

In Sturtevant, they surpassed the number of ballots cast in the June recall election. This summer, 2,370 residents voted and by 6:30 p.m., the village had 2,803 ballots cast, including absentee.

City of Racine 6:03 p.m.

Rob Weber, city attorney for the city of Racine, said a Chicago lawyer who was acting as a poll observer for the Republicans was asked to leave a Racine polling location, Jefferson lighthouse school, this morning because he had a Romney sticker on his clipboard.

However, we spoke to the lawyer in question from Jefferson. He said he was trying to explain to the chief inspector that the area marked off for observers - typically with blue tape - was well past the max of 12 feet allowed by statute. He called it a bipartisan problem even though he's an attorney for the Romney/Ryan campaign.

Sturtevant/Mount Pleasant 2 p.m.

Sturtevant Village Clerk/Interim Administrator Mary Cole estimates that approximately 1,800 of the village's almost 3,200 registered voters have already cast a ballot, including early absentee voters.

"We had a long line this morning, but now it's just steady voter traffic," she said.

A full 35 percent of Sturtevant voters took advantage of early absentee voting, Cole added.

For the recall election in June, the village had near-record turnout of over 70 percent or 2,370 ballots cast.

Over in Mount Pleasant, Village Clerk/Treasurer Veronica Rudychev said there's a lull at Village Hall now, which means there are only 20 or 30 voters in line instead of 100 or more.

The break is giving Chief Poll Inspector Linda Fonk the chance to run some of the 1,600 absentee ballots she has.

"Linda has gotten through 757 of the 1,600 absentee ballots she has so I'm hoping the other locations are able to catch up, too," she said.

City of Racine 1 p.m.

Bill Folk, chair of the Racine County GOP, said he was visiting as many polling locations as he could get to where Republican poll observers were working to be sure there weren't any issues. He is also making sure chief poll inspectors aren't having any issues with the observers.

At 11:30 a.m. when Folk visited Jefferson Lighthouse, he said there was a minor issue with poll workers not allowing an additional Republican to join the sole GOP observer present in a group of nine observers total.

"It has to be equal so we called Donna (Deuster) in the city clerk's office, and she said she'd come over right away to take care of it," he said. "Otherwise, it's been a busy but quiet morning. So far, so good."

Beth David, founder of the Racine Uncovered website, voted at Mitchell Elementary at 11 a.m. and said the line was out the door.

"It went all the way to the sidewalk," she said.

At 12:15 p.m. Jane Witt, chairwoman for the Democratic Party of Racine County, said the lines at the Dr. John Bryant Center in Racine were horribly long and they had a number of newly trained poll workers.

"We had a problem with the ward books not being split, but that got fixed immediately," Witt said.

She said residents coming to register for the first time got a little backed up, too, but the chief inspector called in another registrar and got the line moving.

Lines were also long at Festival Hall, Witt added.

Mount Pleasant/Racine 11:20 a.m.

The parking lot at Fellowship Baptist Church was filled to capacity as soon as the polls opened Tuesday, and residents were parked in the street. Inside the building, residents formed neat lines and Chief Poll Inspector Pat Barlament said she expected it to be busy today, but was surprised at how many people were lining up to register.

"I knew we'd be moving, but I'm surprised after the last two weeks at how many are still coming in to register," she said.

According to Village Clerk/Treasurer Veronica Rudychev, a full 30 percent of the village's 18,000 registered voters have already cast an absentee ballot.

At Goodland Elementary in the City of Racine, police officers responded at about 9:25 a.m. to a call about political signs being too close to the polling location. Sgt. Martin Pavalonis said that was the only call his department had fielded so far.

Mount Pleasant: 9:20 a.m.

At Mount Pleasant Village Hall, 315 people had come in to cast their ballot by 8:45 a.m. Tuesday.

Chief inspector Linda Fonk said she's expecting a 90 percent turnout at the location with 1,600 absentee votes already cast.

Fonk said there haven't been any issues at the polling place, with traffic mimicking the recall election of Gov. Scott Walker in June.

"It wasn't as big, but it was busy," she said.

Voter Roy Peterson said it only took him 12 to 15 minutes to vote in the election and he didn't encounter any issues. Peterson said he votes in every election and he expected the large turnout.

"This is kind of like the recall," he said.

Voter Heidi Ward said she also had a smooth voting process and short wait as well, and was more surprised by the amount of people who had already voted.

"My husband voted early and he said it was as pretty smooth process," Ward said. "So I wasn't expecting too long of a wait."

Election Info

• Polling locations: Your specific polling location can be found on the My Vote Wisconsin site. Or you can visit the village clerk's page for a PDF of all polling places in Mount Pleasant (also attached to this story). Sturtevant's only polling location is at Village Hall.
• Registering to vote: If you have not yet registered to vote, you can register on Election Day at your polling location.
• Voter ID: Because of recent court rulings, Wisconsin's Voter ID law will not be enforced and you do not need an identification to vote. If you are registering to vote, you will need to bring a proof of residence. For more information on the Voter ID law, visit the state's election website.

On the Ballot

COUNTY:

STATE:

• 62nd State Assembly District
• 63rd State Assembly District
• 64th State Assembly District
• 22nd State Senate District

FEDERAL:

• 1st Congressional District
• U.S. Senate
• President

See Mount Pleasant-Sturtevant Patch's complete election coverage