Elections like Tuesday’s primary race aren’t usually big vote-getters, but in Madison early voters have set a new turnout record.
Nearly 2,900 in-person absentee voters cast a ballot in Tuesday’s primary. That’s up 62 percent compared to the previous record set during the 2008 presidential primary, said Maribeth Witzel-Behl, Madison’s city clerk.
Witzel-Behl said the uptick can be explained in part by last year’s court ruling that struck down prohibitions on allowing people to vote early at multiple sites.
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“Having these extra absentee voting locations just completely raised the visibility,” Witzel-Behl said.
The only statewide race on Tuesdays’s ballot is for state schools superintendent.
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