Voters keep poll workers busy in town and village

Like every other local community on Tuesday, more than 90% of Fredonia area registered voters cast ballots this election cycle.

In the Town of Fredonia, where there are 1,475 registered voters, 1,382 ballots were cast for a turnout of 93.7%.

In the village, 1,391 of 1,505 registered voters, or 92.4%, voted.

Lines at the Fredonia Government Center, which is shared by both the town and village, stretched out into the parking lot at various times throughout the day, Village Clerk Sandi Tretow said.

“There was a steady stream all day,” she said.

Adding to the busyness of the day was a higher-than-usual number of absentee ballots either received by mail or delivered in person.

Town Clerk Bob Eichner said the town issued 591 absentee ballots, more than 200 of which were cast in person.

Tretow said she had poll workers process absentee ballots throughout the day.

She said 82 people also registered to vote, many of them for the first time.

“I recruited four people who just did voter registration all day,” she said.

One reported incident at the Government Center turned out to be false.

The Ozaukee County Sheriff’s Office received a report that the polling place had been shut down after someone brandished a gun in the parking lot.

Deputies arrived and interviewed poll workers, who said they saw nothing. The person who made the report told deputies that she had only been told about the incident and had not witnessed it.

“At no time was anyone in danger,” Sheriff’s Capt. Marshall Hermann said.

Town voters went heavily for President Donald Trump, with 1,073 votes, or 77.81%, cast for the president, and 284, or 20.59%, cast for Biden. Third-party candidates received 21 votes from town voters.

In the village, Trump received 946 votes, or 68.2%, vs. 412 votes for Biden, or  29.7%. Third-party candidates received 23 votes.