Latest news with #NikkiElsen
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
La Crosse Voter Turnout for Spring Election
LA CROSSE, Wis. (WLAX/WEUX) – According to the La Crosse City Clerk's Office, around 16% of registered voters used absentee ballots for the Spring Election. However, the number of voters visiting polling centers in person was higher than a normal Spring Election. La Crosse City Clerk Nikki Elsen says, 'I think there's contests on the ballot that have drawn a lot of interest to voters. We've got some local contests. We've got the state contests that have really interested a lot of voters. So that just brings them out in higher numbers.' La Crosse's 2023 Spring Election had a 53% turnout. The City Clerk's Office says that the last Spring Election Mayoral Race in 2021 saw a 28% voter turnout. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
La Crosse Primary turnout
LA CROSSE, Wis. (WLAX/WEUX) – Voters are hitting polling places across La Crosse to cast their votes in the February Primary Elections. This year, along with one state race, La Crosse voters will narrow the race for multiple school board seats, a District 7 city council seat, and a new mayor. City Clerk Nikki Elsen says despite all of these open seats, the city of La Crosse is only expecting around 20% voter turnout. Which is similar to past February votes. Elsen says several factors including voter burnout from the fall elections and cold weather could influence the lower turnout this February. 'The local elections generally produce a lower turnout, which is unfortunate. We want to see the voters coming out in big numbers for the local contacts. It's unfortunate, but that's what the statistics have shown.' UW La Crosse Political Science Professor Anthony Chergosky is also surprised by the lower turnout. 'Going from four candidates for mayor down to two is a really big deal because the two candidates are going to go head-to-head in the April election. So the voters' choices today are going to greatly effect the type of election that we have for mayor of La Crosse in April.' Chergosky adds that a lack of major votes at the state level are also going to lower voting numbers. 'We have the state superintendent election that is going to narrow the candidate field of three down to two, but that has not captured a lot of voter interest. There's not a lot of water cooler conversations regarding the state superintendent election.' Despite numbers expected to remain around 20% for voter turnout in La Crosse, Chergosky still expects local ballots to draw interest. 'Even though La Crosse is going to have pretty low voter turnout compared to other elections, La Crosse could have higher voter turnout than most other places in Wisconsin because the mayoral race and the school board elections are attracting at least some voter interest.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
