Over 1,000 absentee ballots not yet returned, as city clerk predicts 26% voter turnout in mayoral race between Reynolds and Markussen

We should know around 9:30 p.m. tonight if La Crosse’s next mayor will be Mitch Reynolds or Vicki Markussen.

Check the WIZM News website for updates throughout the night on the mayor’s race, as well as the city council races happening in La Crosse.

La Crosse city cleark Nikki Elsen is predicting a 26 percent voter turnout, which was the same as the mayoral election in 2013 when current mayor Tim Kabat faced Doug Farmer. That was the last open seat for mayor.

More than 4,700 absentee ballots were mailed out in the city of La Crosse for Tuesday’s election.

As of Monday morning, Elsen said 3,600 were returned.

“We were a little surprised when we ran the numbers that we still (did) have over 1,000 that were outstanding,” Elsen said.

Elsen added that it’s normal to not get every absentee ballot back.

Those absentee ballots can be returned to the green drop box at city hall by 5 p.m., or at your polling place by 8 p.m.

Despite COVID-19, Elsen said the city did not have difficulty finding poll workers.

“We still had a lot of people who signed up to work the polls in November of last year, so we’re still using a lot of those, as well as the regular inspectors that we’ve had for a number of years,” she said.

Those who need information about how to vote in Tuesday’s election or who want to view a sample of the ballot before heading to the polls can visit myvote.wi.gov.