On the Ballot

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• 23rd State Assembly District

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LIVE 2012 ELECTION RESULTS

Presidential and U.S. Senate results only represent votes in Fox Point and Bayside. Congressional and state legislative results are for entire district. When results are complete, winners will be highlighted in bold.

LAST UPDATE: 11:12 p.m.

UPDATED 7:31 p.m.

At the Fox Point Police Department polling place, Chief Election Inspector Elizabeth Friedman said Tuesday night that there have been 26 cases of situations where people required a new ballot. She didn’t how many were overvotes.

She did say that overvotes were among the spoiled ballots, however. Friedman said people were complaining that they were confused by the design of the ballot because of how the presidential and congressional races were arranged on it.

- John Kroeger

UPDATED 7:20 p.m.

It seems the weather has slowed voting down a bit in Fox Point, but the head elections inspector Elizabeth Friedman is still expecting a high percentage turnout by the end of the night.

2,056 of the 2,430 registered voters in Fox Point have voted so far at the Fox Point Police Department polling place putting the village’s voting percentage around 84 percent.

“I’m a little disappointed in the turnout so far,” Friedman said. According to her, the turnout for the 2008 election was 91 percent.

When asked if she thought the turnout would increase as the night went on, Friedman said, “I’d be surprised if it didn’t. It’s presidential,” she said.

The day has gone by relatively smoothly with only a few hiccups. A voting machine briefly jammed but the votes were counted. And some confusion by voters over whether or not photo ID was required slowed things down. Friedman is positive, however, that they have the numbers 100 percent correct.

-John Kroeger

UPDATED 7:15 p.m.

Bayside Village Manager Andy Pedersen said that with less than an hour to go before the polls close, turnout in the village was 84 percent.

In the previous half hour, he said, turnout has increased 3.2 percent.

"It's just blowing my mind," Pedersen said, adding that he expects turnout in the village to hit 90 percent by the time the polls close.

UPDATED at 6:40 p.m.

At Bayside Middle School at 5:30 p.m., Chief Election Officer Emily Vaill Pfaff said that 1,200 early or absentee ballots have been cast. She also expected an 85 percent turn out, and as of 4:30 this afternoon they were at 75 percent. The only problem Vaill Pfaff expressed was that the voting machines would jam once the bins under the machines had filled to capacity. She also said there were some over-voting problems.

"If over-voting occurred with an absentee ballot, the vote was thrown out," said Vaill Pfaff. "We gave voters who had over-voted three chances to vote correctly, only one needed all three attempts."

Vaill Pfaff also attributed over-voting to a combination of small print on the ballots and the ballot not being clear enough to understand for people with poor eyesight.

Nadine Guirl, a observer at the poll for Mitt Romney's campaign, was at Bayside Middle School since 6:45 A.M. and saw the polls get busy early.

"It was very busy between 7 and 9:45 a.m.," said Guirl. "People were outside with their papers and coffee waiting."

Voter Julie Knippen was helping out students of hers at a bake sale.

"I voted last Friday, and with being the last day you could early vote I waited an hour and a half to vote," she said.

-Kyle Zittel

UPDATED at 4:56 p.m.

Here's an update from some Facebook fans who shared some observations when they voted today:

• Jennifer Wiegers, "Fox Point warming house was totally uneventful. 3:05 p.m. - waited 5 minutes!"
• Kelly Herda, 4:48 p.m., "John (her husband) just voted - #862 Bayside Ward 1."

--Sarah Worthman

UPDATED at 3:30 p.m.

 Andy Pederson, Bayside Village Manager, said as of 3:30 p.m., all the absentee ballots were processed and that brings voter turnout to 70 percent. He said the only other time he remembers such high turnout was the Wisconsin recall elections. 

"I believe the highest turnout that we recall is somewhere between 82 and 85 percent, so at 3:35 in the afternoon we have eclipsed the highest turnout we’ve ever had," Pederson said. "My best guestimate is probably 85 to 90 percent turnout."

He said there aren't very long lines right now because it's more of the standard lull between the high peaks at lunchtime and right after work. 

"Now is a good time if you want to avoid that after-work rush," he said. 

--Sarah Worthman

UPDATED at 2:34 p.m.

At 2:34 p.m. Tuesday, the parking lot at the Fox Point Police Department for wards 1-4 is packed and there's quite a few cars parked nearby in the Fox Point Lutheran Church parking lot. 

Chief Election Inspector Lili Friedman said they're going "fast and furious" to get absentee ballots counted but it's been busy all morning. 

Friedman said they haven't had any major issues, just normal election problems like misread codes and within a minute or two, she said it's all fixed up. 

"There's been nothing unusual, so we're grateful," she said with a laugh. 

And just a few minutes later, Friedman made an announcement to voters that they needed to speak up, loudly and clearly, because the election observers couldn't hear them very well. She blames the cieling. 

"It's like the Capitol Rotunda," she said. "But at least we don't seem to have any busses of locals from Texas." 

UPDATED at 1:25 p.m.

Chief Election Inspector Barb Mueller said Fox Point began election day with 37 percent voter turnout, due to the high number of absentee ballots turned in the week before election day. 

There haven't been any major problems so far at Longacre Pavilion, site for Fox Point voters living in Wards 5-9. 

Beth Alling said she voted this morning and was No. 273 at Longacre Pavilion. 

"No problems! 20 minutes and I was on my way," she said in a Facebook post. 

Rebecca Bodner also voted about just after noon and was No. 1141. 

And while there are currently no extensive lines at this polling place, Mueller said this morning was a different story. 

"The line was curling all the way around the building," she said. "A few times all the voting booths were full for us, but here, having to wait is unusual." 

And as a voter finished casting his ballot and walked toward the door, he stopped, turned around and said, "Thank you, you're all good people."

--Sarah Worthman

UPDATED at 8 a.m.

The line to vote at the Fox Point Police Department at 8 a.m. this morning started in the courthouse but ended in the brisk November weather outside.

This is not uncommon for a presidential election, according to Linda Settler and Elizabeth Friedman, two election inspectors. Even with so many waiting to vote in person and the 990 absentee votes and early votes that have yet to be counted, things are pretty much the norm for a presidential election, according to Settler.

However, absentee/early voting has been heavy. In the last election, there was 42 percent absentee voting. There is already about 37 percent this year, and that number will climb as others come in through the mail.

Settler also says that voter turnout is high and will continue to remain high throughout the day, probably reaching numbers around the last election of about 91 percent. Peak hours will be during lunch and after work according to Settler.

--John Kroeger

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Voting info

Polling locations: Your specific polling location can be found on the My Vote Wisconsin site. 

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on April 3. Here are the polling places in Fox Point and Bayside:

• Bayside residents can vote at Bayside Middle School, 601 E. Ellsworth Ln. Please use the Standish Place entrance.

• Fox Point residents can vote at either the Fox Point Police Department, 7300 N. Santa Monica Blvd., or the Longacre Pavilion, 7343 N. Longacre Rd.

Sample Ballot: To see a sample ballot, go to the state's My Vote Wisconsin website and enter your address.

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Will you need an 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.