Wisconsin election: Voter turnout in Waukesha County

For the Milwaukee Election Commission, okay, we got an issue to tell you about. They say there are power outages right now affecting Hampton School and Silver Spring Neighborhood Center. Those are polling locations. Okay, but both polling locations remain open and voting is continuing. We Energies is working on getting the power restored. And we'll keep on top of those developments. So it seems like an issue, but not really, because the polls are open. But not really, because the voting is still happening. Something we'll keep following here. Meanwhile, the big race statewide is for governor. That's on all your ballots. But there are plenty of other races drawing voters out to the polls today. Voters in Waukesha County say it's national issues that motivated them to head to the polls. Waukesha County reporter Brett Lemoine live with what's on the ballot there. And why turnout will be watched closely. Brett. Yeah, and speaking of turnout, this is a pretty good indication, Ben and Kim, the line here at the Waukesha County Expo Center out the door right now. In fact, just about 15 minutes ago, the line stretched all the way to those flagpoles that you see there. It's now snaking more inside the building to keep people as dry as possible. But we stopped by three different polling places in three different communities today, And at each stop, Poll workers told us turnout has been very strong. The city of Waukesha issued more than 12,000 absentee ballots. Only 1,100 remained outstanding as of Friday night. Our political reporter Jason Calvey says Elm Grove is a spot to keep an eye on tonight. In 2022, Republican Tim Michels beat Democrat Tony Evers there in the governor's race by just under 200 votes. But in 2024, Elm Grove flipped to blue, edging Democrat Kamala Harris ahead of President Trump by a mere 48 votes. Elm Grove election officials say about 40% of voters cast their ballot absentee for the midterms. And in Brookfield, voters on both sides of the aisle, more than anything on the ballot, say that this election is a chance to make a statement about the state of our country. I'm sure people are more excited to vote this year, especially for whatever is going on. high prices, people suffering, people cannot even afford a home. And all those kind of things motivate people to go to the poll and vote. For me, it's strongly that we keep this country as a republic. A thousand ballots that they have already processed. That does not include any votes that were cast absentee. Again, that's just here at this location alone. But Ben and Kim... This is not the last election this year that Waukesha County voters will be faced with. Of course, there will be a special election held on December 15th. That's to elect a new county executive to replace Paul Farrow, who sadly passed away last July. And in fact, election workers here at this location and at many others that we've seen today I've been handing out paper reminders so that folks put put December 15th on their calendar. Reporting live in Waukesha, Brett Lemoine, Fox 6 News. Brett, what would you say the wait time is? I know these poll workers are just outstanding in their organization and how quickly they get people in and out. Sure. Yeah, it's hard. It's really hard to gauge right now, Ben and Kim, what the actual wait time is. But I was told by some workers inside today that it has been like this pretty much nonstop all day. And full disclosure, guys, this is also my polling place. And I have to say that we've only been voting here at the Expo Center for maybe the last three or four election cycles. I cannot recall a time ever. Where a line has stretched outside of the building. You're both very familiar with the Expo Center here. It's big inside. All right. So to see a line out like this is pretty telling. All right. And what it tells, we're not sure. All right, Brett Lemoine, thank you.