MILWAUKEE — Voter turnout appeared to be off to a slow start after the polls opened at 7 a.m. on Tuesday for Wisconsin's spring primary.
At Milwaukee's Washington Park Library, those who did come out to cast their ballot felt passionate about being there. By noon, less than 20 people came out to vote in person.
"It's like building a home. You have to have a solid foundation for that to be the home that you would want to live in," said Alleace Fleming.
"I think sometimes, smaller local elections, people forget about them, but this is where real democracy happens," Alicia Meyer said.
"I'm sad because I'm the 13th folder. I should've been the 2013th voter. We need to come out and vote. It's very important," Olivia Hogans said right before noon.
Heading into Tuesday, the Wisconsin Elections Commission reported that 194,890 absentee ballots had been returned statewide and 53,858 people voted early in person. In Milwaukee County, those statistics were 36,006 and 10,315 respectively.
"People died so that we can vote so it's not to be taken lightly," Hattie Billingsley pressed.
Billingsley encouraged her grandsons, twin brothers James and Preston, to start voting when they turned 18.
Two years later, poll workers at the library get excited to see them come in for every election. They even started a tradition of taking a picture after they vote.
"Every vote counts and it's like she says, we gotta watch for the ones (that are) over us," James said.
"We have little brothers and sisters that see what we do, and we just try to show them the right way," Preston said.
"I'm hoping that this will be ingrained in them and that they will tell their children," Billingsley said.
It will be some time before we know how Tuesday's turnout compares to past primary elections.
Polls are open until 8 p.m.