Walker Recall Election Turnout Expected to Exceed 2010 Race

Wisconsin officials are estimating that turnout in next week’s recall election will exceed the 2010 gubernatorial race. The officials believe that turnout will be most in a governor’s race in half a century, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

The recall election is between Gov. Scott Walker, R-Wisc., and Democratic challenger Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. The Government Accountability Board estimated 60 percent to 65 percent of voters will turn out next Tuesday. The 2010 election drew 49.7 percent, the paper reported.

"Wisconsin has never had a statewide recall election, which makes predicting turnout difficult," Accountability Board director Kevin Kennedy told the paper. "We typically look at history for guidance in predicting turnout."

Wisconsin’s recall election is just the third gubernatorial recall election in United States history. The highest turnout in a governor’s election in the past 50 years in Wisconsin was 52.4 percent in 1962. In advance of Election Day, some 130,000 absentee ballots have already been issued, the Journal Sentinel reported.