Voter turnout higher than 50 percent in Colfax and Elk Mound for April 5 election

By LeAnn R. Ralph

COLFAX  —  Voter turnout for the April 5 presidential primary and local non-partisan elections was higher in Colfax and Elk Mound at more than 50 percent, compared to the statewide prediction of 40 percent.

According to information provided by Lynn Niggemann, Colfax administrator-clerk-treasurer, and Pat Hahn, Elk Mound clerk treasurer, voter turnout in Colfax was 56.7 percent, and voter turnout in Elk Mound was 61.6 percent.

The state Government Accountability Board predicted voter turnout statewide would be 40 percent. The GAB now places the statewide turnout at an unofficial total of 47.4 percent.

The Elk Mound school district also experienced a record high voter turnout for the Board of Education election.

Even though there were two incumbents on the ballot for the Elk Mound school board, Loren Hanson and Kyle Jenson, the vote total of 1,191 for each candidate was extremely high, said Dr. Ron Walsh, superintendent of schools in Elk Mound.

“This is the highest turnout I can ever remember, and our race was uncontested,” Dr. Walsh wrote in an e-mail message to the Colfax Messenger.

“The national influence was huge. I looked back at other years for the maximum number of voters we had each year going back to 2009 for reference,” he said.

The other unusual aspect of the Elk Mound Board of Education election was that each candidate received the exact same number of votes, Dr. Walsh noted.

Even though the votes differed in different municipalities for Hanson and Jenson, the final total was the same number.

In the Village of Elk Mound, for example, according to the unofficial election results, Hanson received 197 votes and Jenson received 211 votes. In the Town of Wheaton, Hanson received 234 votes, and Jenson received 248 votes. In the Town of Union, Hanson received 41 votes, and Jenson received 29 votes. In the Town of Spring Brook, Hanson received 328 votes, and Jenson received 300 votes.

In 2009, the Elk Mound school district had a voter turnout of 1,060.

The voter turnout was high that year because of the $9.325 million referendum, Dr. Walsh pointed out.

Even at that, 2009 accounted for 131 fewer votes than the April 5 election.

Since 2009, the lowest vote total in the Elk Mound Board of Education election was 352 in 2013. The next highest total was in 2011 with 762 votes during the election for state Supreme Court justice between Justice David Prosser Jr. and Judge JoAnne Kloppenburg, who at that time was an attorney and not yet a judge.

The Colfax school district appeared to have a high voter turnout as well.

Two candidates were on the ballot for two positions on the Colfax school board.

Bill Yingst, superintendent of schools in Colfax, reported that the unofficial vote tally for the Colfax Board of Education was 996 votes for Andy De Moe and 1,216 votes for incumbent board member Todd Kragness.

Colfax village board

Three candidates were on the April 5 ballot for three positions on the Colfax Village Board: Incumbents Carey K. Davis and Mark S. Halpin, along with newcomer Casey Rihn.

On the unofficial vote total, Davis received 234 votes, while Halpin received 261, and Rihn received 232 votes.

Incumbent Jeremy Klukas chose not to run for re-election.

A total of 355 people voted in Colfax on April 5.

Niggemann reported that she had 49 new registrations on election day and that prior to the election, Colfax had 577 registered voters.

In the presidential primary in Colfax, Republican candidates received a total of 172 votes, while Democratic candidates received a total of 176 votes.

On the Republican side, Donald J. Trump received 75 votes, and Senator Ted Cruz received 72 votes. The other Republican candidates received a handful of votes or no votes at all.

Ohio Governor John Kasich received 12 votes.

On the Democratic side, out of 176 votes, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton received 81 votes, while Senator Bernie Sanders received 94 votes. Martin O’Malley, who suspended his campaign a while back, received one vote.

Elk Mound village board

Three candidates were on the ballot for three positions on the Elk Mound Village Board: Incumbent Anthony Schrantz and newcomers Rebecca Livingston and Greg Kipp.

Schrantz received 199 votes. Livingston gathered 194 votes, and Kipp received 155 votes.

Hahn reported that Elk Mound had 281 voters on April 5 and that the village has 456 registered voters.

Incumbent Elk Mound Village Board members Travis Wenzel and Chad Mousel decided not to run for re-election.

Write-ins

Niggemann and Hahn reported that ballots in Colfax and Elk Mound also contained write-in candidates.

The totals for write-ins do not count unless the candidate has registered as a write-in candidate.

Several of the write-in votes in each municipality were for candidates who were already officially on the ballot.

Niggemann and Hahn both were puzzled as to why a voter would write in a candidate who was already officially on the ballot.

Historical numbers

The unofficial statewide turnout of 47.4 percent, after the state Government Accountability Board predicted a 40 percent turnout, could end up being the second-highest voter turnout in Wisconsin history if the final percentage remains at 47.4 percent.

According to news reports, the presidential primary in 1980 had a voter turnout of 45.65 percent.

The presidential primary in 1972, with George McGovern on the Democratic side, and Richard Nixon, who was seeking a second term as president on the Republican side, logged a voter turnout of 47.7 percent, only .3 percent higher than the April 5 election.