Primaries Held Across Wisconsin Today

Wisconsin‘s partisan primary is being held today, with votes being cast to pick candidates going into the general election in November. 

Elections Commission spokesman Reid Magney says today’s primary is an open primary, which means you don’t have to officially register with a party before the election. He says “Unlike a lot of other states, you get to choose on election day what you’re going to be. Are you a Democrat, are you a Republican, are you a Green, are you Libertarian, are you a Constitution party person?”

Magney adds that the commission doesn’t do overall voter turnout predictions, but says that turnout may vary widely by district depending on what elections are on that particular ballot. He mentions “There may be a county sheriff’s race in the primary, which is actually is sort of the election because the other party doesn’t field candidates normally. And that might generate a lot of local interest and race turnout.”

But Magney points out that partisan primaries usually see a lower turnout – saying “turnout in a partisan primary has ranged from 15 to 20 percent, and that compares to a November gubernatorial election where you’d have a turnout of 50 to 55 percent.”

Besides the race for Democrat Governor and Republican Senate candidates, numerous local, state and county elections – including the race for Fond du Lac County Sheriff – are on the ballot. The polls are open from 7:00am until 8:00pm tonight.