Elections officials make final preps before Election Day

BROOKFIELD/MILWAUKEE -- Turnout for Wisconsin's historic recall election is expected to be high on Tuesday, June 5th. The Wisconsin Government Accountability Board estimated between 60% to 65% of voters will cast ballots. Election officials say as many as 2.8 million people could vote.  Monday, there was plenty of work to be done, less than 24 hours before the polls were set to open.

Workers at Brookfield's City Clerk's Office placed absentee ballots in alphabetical order Monday and made other preps in advance of the big recall election Tuesday.

"There's a lot of preparation that needs to be done so that when they get to the polls on election day, it will be easier for poll workers to log them in and feed them into the machines," Brookfield City Clerk Kelly Michaels said.

Workers made sure bins were stuffed with supplies poll workers will need Tuesday -- everything from poll lists to voter tickets and manuals.

At Milwaukee's Election Commission Office, they brought in extra staff to handle the call volume and answer questions. Workers also did a final count of batches of absentee ballots Monday.

City of Milwaukee and Brookfield election officials say they've received more absentee ballots for the recall election than they did for the 2010 gubernatorial election.

"In 2010, we received just over 14,000 absentee ballots.  For this election, we`re up to about 18,800.  If you consider the fact that we only had a two-week period this time, and the last time, it was over three weeks -- the interest is there," Edman said.

Election officials say the voting equipment is ready.

"About a week and a half ago, we tested all of our machines, and they are now out at all of our polling sites. Everything has been delivered -- all of our supplies are delivered and we`re just making sure everything is in place," Edman said.

Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen says assistant attorneys general and special agents will be stationed across the state to ensure compliance with state laws.

Voters can call the Wisconsin Election Protection Hotline at 1-866-OUR-VOTE to report problems, ask attorneys questions or get help to protect their right to vote.

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