Turnout higher in Marathon County this year than in 2020

Marathon County saw nearly all of its registered voters turn out for Tuesday’s election night. 

According to numbers provided by the Marathon County Clerk, more than 95% of registered voters turned out for an election that went Donald Trump’s way in Wisconsin and nationwide, but also saw Sen. Tammy Baldwin keep her senate seat against a Republican challenger. 

Marathon County saw 79,146 ballots case in Tuesday’s election. That’s more than 2020’s presidential election, which saw 76,975 ballots cast for about 91.7% turnout, which went Joe Biden’s way in Wisconsin and nationwide. 

Residents in Wausau made use of the absentee ballot box, though most used either mail or in-person early voting, according to city statistics. The city received a total of 9,185 absentee ballots. Of those, only 596 were sent through the city’s drop box, which became a source of controversy after Mayor Doug Diny removed the box from the city’s front steps. 

Of the total, 5,096 voted early in person, according to statistics provided by the city clerk. The city clerk had been reporting daily absentee voting totals, and had been receiving between 490 and more than 600 votes per day.