While the exact amount of people who cast their ballots in Tuesday’s election is still unknown, there are early indications that voter participation in Wisconsin was not as high as previously expected.

Government Accountability Board Director Kevin Kennedy said Wednesday he expects Wisconsin voter turnout to be just under 3 million, or roughly 70 percent of the population.

While these totals are high, they are not record-breaking.

He said the turnout was lower than the previously anticipated 3.2 million because President-elect Barack Obama held a significant lead over John McCain in polls in the final stretch of the campaign and citizens felt their vote counted less if the race was not close.

“When you’re looking at polls that show double digit leads for one of the candidates … that really is the difference,” Kennedy said.

The presidential races in 2000 and 2004 had higher voter turnouts, according to Kennedy, because the races were more highly contested in the state.

Kennedy said while this factor prevented Tuesday’s turnout from breaking records, the historical nature of the election kept the turnout high.

“In this case it was a very historic election, I think that’s what kept our turnout as high as it was,” he said.

Kennedy said the high amount of absentee votes cast this year, which totaled about 550,000, contributed to shorter lines at the polls.