In the 2016 spring election, about 8,500 people voted in the city. But for this year’s election, more than 8,000 absentee ballots had been returned to the city clerk’s office by Monday night, according to Mike Davis, the city’s administrator.

“It’s a bit surreal,” said Davis, who spent the morning directing those who had voted to an exit door. “It’s not where we should be at this point. Ideally we could have had an election that was done completely by absentee ballot, but we’re doing as we’ve been told by the state Legislature.”

In the town of Oregon, voting was shifted from the Town Hall to the adjacent, larger garage with a tent in case it rained. In Stoughton, the city moved all polling to the spacious Stoughton Wellness & Athletic Center, city clerk Holly Licht said.

Carlene Bechen sat in a folding chair outside the Oregon Village Hall to help people with curbside voting. She wore a mask, gloves and a blue plastic bag over her clothing and called the decision to proceed with the election “a travesty. It’s risking people’s health,” she said. “My husband’s not happy I’m here.”

In Prairie du Chien, City Clerk and Treasurer Tina Fuller said the city held a drive-through election. Voters remained in their cars and cracked open their windows to pass a clipboard back and forth.