By Shereen Siewert | Wausau Pilot & Review
Some voting locations in Wausau ran out of ballots after a higher than expected turnout during Tuesday’s spring election.
Marathon County Clerk Kim Trueblood confirmed the situation late Tuesday to Wausau Pilot and said that ballots have since been restocked.
“From what I’ve heard from the city, they are having an extraordinary number of registrations today which has caused the turnout to be much higher than expected,” Trueblood said.
The clerk said that voting locations have ExpressVote cards available in some situations. But one resident, John Ballschmieder, said he was not offered an ExpressVote card but was instead offered the opportunity to stand in line and wait. Ballschmieder, who lives in Dist. 7, went to vote at St. Mark’s Church on Tuesday when he learned that ballots had run out.
Voters in 2022 faced a similar situation when ballots ran out at one Wausau polling location.
A poll worker in Dist. 1, at North Central Health Care, said voter turnout was similar to what is typical for a November presidential election.
Prior to Tuesday’s election, 78,473 voters were registered in Marathon County with 88 precincts. Polls close at 8 p.m. Tuesday.
