Inside the Portage County line By GENE KEMMETER of The Gazette VOTERS TURN OUT STRONG: Legislators can eat crow when they complain about special elections for school referendums, claiming the special elections are designed to attract only supporters of a proposal. Maybe legislators are jealous of the turnout that school issues attract. Tuesday's special election in the Stevens Point Area School District had a larger turnout than the April election, when an estimated 19 percent of registered voters turned out. In Whiting, 51.47 percent (489)of the 950 registered voters came out to vote. The town of Hull had 48 percent of its voters come out, 1,537 of the 3,200 registered. In Plover, 44 percent (2,442) of the 5,600 registered voters voted. In Stevens Point, 26.51 percent of registered voters turned out. That was 4,584 of the 17,291 registered voters. In April, only 17 percent turned out to vote. In the 8th Ward, around the Washington School area, the turnout was 53 percent, with 824 persons voting. City Clerk Vicki Zdroik said pollworkers in the 6th and the 9th wards also called during the day about running short of ballots. The student wards, 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 11th, dragged down the city's percentage. The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point recessed for the summer last week and turnout dipped. The percentages were 16.09 in the 1st, 13.6 in the 2nd, 10.21 in the 3rd and 4.2 in the 11th. Percentages in the other wards were in the 30s. After voting in an election, a person remains as a registered voter in the ward for four years unless the person notifies the municipal clerk in the respective municipality about moving. That seldom happens, so the person is carried as a voter for four years, then mailings are sent to the address advising the individual to contact the clerk about voting. * * * DRIVE-UP SOFTBALL: Some fans at Tuesday's Almond-Bancroft softball game watched the Eagles defeat Pittsville from the comfort of their automobiles. While a number of A-B fans sat in bleachers behind home plate, more than a dozen vehicles lined the first-base line and more sat along the fence on the leftfield line. People passing through Almond during the game may have wondered why horns continually honked for a two-hour period. It was just the fans beeping for each A-B hit and every out the Eagles recorded when Pittsville was at bat. Sitting and watching games from a car isn't anything new to A-B fans. Last fall, vehicles lined two ends of the football field when the Eagles took on Rosholt. That night was cold and rainy, though, and Tuesday was partly cloudy with temperatures in the 60s.