About 67 percent of the registered voters in Portage County turned out for Tuesday's election, a drop in both the percentage and number of voters in 1992.
County Clerk Roger Wrycza said 33,237 voters went to the polls Tuesday, compared to 34,158 in 1992, when 74 percent of the registered voters voted. In 1996, there was a drop off to 30,425 voters, or 63 percent of those who were registered.
The 1992 presidential election featured a three-way race between Bill Clinton, George Bush and Ross Perot, independent, with Clinton getting 15,553 votes; Bush, 10,914; and Perot, 7,083.
On Tuesday, Democrat Al Gore captured the race in the county, garnering 17,942 votes, compared to 13,214 for Republican George W. Bush, 2,143 for Ralph Nader of the Green Party.
The village of Plover was one area municipality that showed an increase. Village Clerk Karen Swanson said 4,815 of the registered voters, 73 percent, turned out Tuesday. That was an increase from the 4,300 in 1996 and 4,586 in 1992.
That was also more than the 2,904 who turned out to vote in September for the primary when the village held a referendum on a proposed Indian casino. That primary, however, drew more than the primary in 1996, when 1,729 turned out.
In Stevens Point, City Clerk Victoria Zdroik said 12,900 of the 19,928 registered voters turned out, 64.73 percent. The turnout was slightly better than the 64 percent in 1996 when 11,464 persons voted.
However, those figures were below the 76-percent turnout in 1992 when 13,617 voters turned out.
Two areas of voting where the city showed an increase were in absentee ballots and registration at the polls.
This year, 571 persons voted by absentee ballot, compared to 445 in 1996 and 551 in 1992.
On Tuesday, 3,338 persons registered at the polls to vote, compared to 3,288 in 1996 and 3,272 in 1992. Both the 3rd Ward at the Fire Station and the 11th Ward at Pacelli High School had 447 registrations at the poll Tuesday.