Fort at the polls: turnout slow, but steady

By Chris Spangler

Turnout was slow, albeit steady, as Fort Atkinson voters went to the polls for today’s primary election.

As of 9:30 a.m., 878 — 7.5 percent of the city’s registered voters — had cast ballots. Included in that total were 607 absentee ballots.

“It’s a little lower than I had hoped, but it still could pick up today,” city Clerk-Treasurer Michelle Ebbert said of turnout by mid-morning. “It’s a beautiful day; people may be out enjoying the community, doing what they do, and will just get here later.”

Ebbert said that it is difficult to estimate the percentage of voter turnout.

“It’s always interesting in August because you never know what is going to bring the voters out. You always want to have a good guess,” she said.

Ebbert explained that the city must order ballots at least two months in advance.

“So you try to make the best guess that you can. You just don’t want to run out of ballots,” she added.

That wasn’t going to be a problem today, as the city had enough ballots on hand to accommodate 75 percent of registered voters.

Ebbert said that voters should remember that because this is a partisan primary, they must declare their party preference and then choose candidates only within that party.

“We always guide the voters and encourage them to read the ballots, take their time. There’s no rush for voting. Be confident in what you’re doing and if you’re unsure, ask. We have tons of workers around and we want to make sure that you … are doing it correctly so your vote counts,” Ebbert said.

Among contested races on the ballot are three Republicans vying to face U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat seeking her third term in November. They are Eric Hovde, owner of Sunwest Bank in California; Rejani Raveendran, a student Republican leader from Stevens Point; and Charles Barman, a construction superintendent from the Village of Sharon in Walworth County. 

This also marks the first primary election under new state legislative maps after the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that the maps approved in 2022 were unconstitutional. In 46 Assembly Districts statewide, there are 25 Republican and 21 Democratic primaries today.

Locally, three Republicans are on the primary ballot in the newly redrawn Assembly District 43: current District 33 Rep. Scott Johnson, Jefferson, and Dylan Kurtz, a University of Wisconsin-Whitewater political science major.

There also is a contested Republican primary in Assembly District 99, in which former District 38 Rep. Barbara Dittrich, Oconomowoc, and Jeffrey Pfannerstill, Hartland, are facing off.

Among contested Democratic primaries is that for state Senate District 16, with Samba Baldeh, Madison; Melissa Ratcliff, Cottage Grove; and Jimmy Anderson, Fitchburg, on the ballot. The district currently is represented by Sen. Melissa Agard, D-Madison, who is not seeking re-election because she is a candidate for Dane County executive.

In addition, two statewide referendums on the ballot relate to a proposed constitutional amendment that would remove the governor’s control of distributing federal funds that are not part of the regular state budget.

The questions read:

• Question 1: “Delegation of appropriation power. Shall section 35 (1) of article IV of the constitution be created to provide that the legislature may not delegate its sole power to determine how moneys shall be appropriated?”

• Question 2: “Allocation of federal moneys. Shall section 35 (2) of article IV of the constitution be created to prohibit the governor from allocating any federal moneys the governor accepts on behalf of the state without the approval of the legislature by joint resolution or as provided by legislative rule?”