Long lines for historic Wisconsin recall election - WXOW News 19 La Crosse, WI – News, Weather and Sports |

Voters are reporting long lines at many Wisconsin polling places in a historic recall election driven by angry public employees who lost some collective bargaining rights as Republican Gov. Scott Walker pushed through a bill aimed at reducing the state's budget deficit.

In La Crosse County, County Clerk Ginny Dankmeyer says lines have been reported at many of the polling places around the area. 

One polling location at Emerson Elementary, had slightly more than 1,400 votes in 2010 in the governor's race, already has nearly 1,000 votes cast as of 315pm.  There are also more than 300 absentee ballots that need to be processed there as well. 

Democrats and labor activists gathered more than 900,000 signatures to force the recall. Not all public workers voted against Walker. Seventy-three-year-old retired state employee Jerry Darda of Madison said he voted for the governor because the recall was "ridiculous" and that Walker should be able to finish his job.

In a suburb north of Milwaukee, 72-year-old William Dixon, a self-employed woodworker, says he voted for Barrett out of disgust with Walker's collective bargaining policies. Dixon says that asking public employees to pay more for their benefits is one thing, but taking away the right to bargain for wages is another thing.