MARQUETTE, Mich. (WZMQ) – Voters lined up at the YMCA, Marquette’s busiest polling place, with some people waiting longer than expected to cast their ballot. Marquette County Clerk Linda Talsma breaks down the numbers.
“We have a little over 56,000 voters in Marquette County. We had a little over 38,000 that voted. So it ended up being 60, 68.24% now I have seen it in the 70s in the past, but I’ll tell you what. I’ll take anything over 50. I always love to see that,” said Talsma.
Polling locations in Marquette officially closed at 8 pm, but if you were in line by then, you could still vote.
“The polls, even though they closed at eight, we allowed those folks that were in line to vote. So it did finally finish up at about 20 after eight or so,” said Talsma.
With any presidential election, the nations highest office often garners the most attention, but Talsma cautions against overlooking local contests and ballot initiatives.
“You have to realize that there is much more on that ballot than the president,” said Talsma.
Elsewhere in the county voter turnout was also high with no problems to report. Michigamme election official Susan Alexander was pleased with how the day went.
“People have been very calm, and very polite. I did have to increase for yesterday from four voting booths to seven. And they were full on several occasions throughout the day,” said Alexander.
The next order of business is for the county board of canvassers to meet and make sure the numbers are correct before certifying the election.
