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Higher turnout expected for Tuesday's primaries
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MONROE - In less than 24 hours, Wisconsin residents will go to the polls to select presidential candidates.

In the Darlington school district, voters also will weigh in on a referendum question.

In the Democratic presidential primary, voters must choose between Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama; while on the Republican side, Sen. John McCain and Gov. Mike Huckabee are on the ballot.

All four candidates, as well as their big-named supporters, have visited Wisconsin over the past week.

Obama has the support of Rep. Steve Hilgenberg, D-Dodgeville, while Clinton has the support of State Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton.

Hilgenberg said he supports Obama because Obama offers a fresh face.

"We need to have a new view and a new start," Hilgenberg said. "I think Obama has less baggage than Hillary Clinton."

Erpenbach's office said the senator would support Clinton due to her stand on health care.

Rep. Brett Davis, R-Oregon, said he's supporting McCain.

"He's got a proven record of independence," Davis said. "He'll do what he thinks is right."

Polls in Wisconsin open at 7 a.m. Tuesday and close at 8 p.m.

Green County Clerk Mike Doyle expects more voters than usual due to the excitement from the presidential campaign.

"Other primaries held in February have been historically low but I suspect there will be a higher turnout," he said.

Doyle said some of the February primaries in the past has garnered about 10 percent of registered voters. This year he's predicting the number could go as high as 35 percent. Because people can register the day they vote, he also anticipates higher voter registration.

All ballots in Green County are handled by the county clerk's office, which distributes them to the municipal clerks. Doyle asked the clerks to estimate how many ballots they would need. If the clerks run out of ballots they can get more, Doyle said, because his office can print the ballots and get them out to the clerks right away.

Monroe City Clerk Carol Stamm said 1,289 people came out to vote in 2004, the last time there was a presidential primary. In that primary, President George Bush ran unopposed. In February 2006, the year Monroe voted for a new mayor, turnout was 1,368. Normally, however, about 200 people turn out to vote in a February primary.

Stamm expects more people to turn out tomorrow.

So does Lafayette County Clerk Linda Bawden, who said she expects voter turnout to be a little higher than usual because of the Darlington school district referendum. Residents there will vote on a referendum seeking an additional $700,000 a year over state revenue caps for four years.