By noon, polling place in Racine had matched primary voting total

RACINE -- Election officials in Racine expected a huge turnout Tuesday, June 5th for as voters took to the polls in Wisconsin's first-ever recall election. If the final number of ballots cast Tuesday match expectations, elections officials say totals could match or exceed those from the 2008 presidential election.

Poll workers in Racine prepared for a busy day, as elections officials predicted a voter turnout of 65 to 70 percent.

"I think we're gonna hit that mark. We may even go over that. The lines are long at all of the polling places -- which is a good sign," Racine City Clerk Janice Johnson-Martin said.

Long lines snaked through Racine polling places Tuesday morning and again during the lunch hour. Voters understood the importance of casting their ballot.

"That's a big thing. I kind of figured it was gonna be all eyes on Wisconsin because we had the two big recall elections, and this will set the precedent for November 2012," voter Reginald Pitt said.

There were some issues in Racine Tuesday. Yusuf Buckley was driving a van, taking voters to the polls. Buckley said he couldn't take registration applications outside of the building.

"They said 'you're not allowed to do that.' In the City Hall of Racine during early voting, they didn't mind that," Buckley said.

Buckley eventually got to take the applications outside, but officials asked such get-out-the-vote groups to print the applications off of the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board's website, so polling places don't run out.

Aside from handling complaints, the Racine City Clerk said Tuesday she enjoyed an historic day in Racine -- and Wisconsin.

"It's kind of good for us because all the work and hours we've put in and prepared for this, the interest of voters is showing, and that's a good sign,"

By noon on Tuesday, voters had cast 930 ballot at Goodland School in Racine. In the primary election, Goodland School reported 700 ballots cast the entire day!

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.

CLICK HERE for more information on voting and the recall election via the GAB’s website.

Related stories: