[media-credit name=’BRYAN FAUST/Herald Photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]A majority of Madison residents voted Tuesday to pass a referendum proposing to immediately withdraw U. S. troops from Iraq.

Support for the referendum received 24,344 of the total 35,596 votes, reflecting approximately 68 percent of the total vote.

As of press time, three of the city's 136 wards voted against the referendum, and 32 wards had not reported their election results.

"It's a big win for us," Steve Burns, program coordinator for the Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice, said. "We think it's a very clear message to Congress they've got seven months to respond."

The referendum, while not legally binding, displays the city's public opinion on the issue, which may affect legislators' actions in Wisconsin and in the United States.

Burns said while the large margin of victory in Madison is important, more significant victories came from "conservative" communities that voted to support the referendum.

Ald. Austin King, District 4, agreed with Burns' sentiments, and added such communities that vote yes are "unbelievable."

"There are communities that voted for [President George W.] Bush that are saying no to the war," he noted. "It's not just from Madison, where everyone expects it to pass."

Burns cited the village of Ladysmith as an example of a conservative community supporting the referendum.

"Ladysmith voted 51 percent for Bush," he said. "What I think what we're seeing is people in the state of Wisconsin are agreeing on the issue and showing there's no division on the state of Wisconsin between Madison and the other cities."

While the city of Madison was expected to pass the referendum, King said the statistics will emphasize the victory.

"I think it's important that it wins by a landslide," he said. "It's not even close and that's very exciting."

King said the referendum should directly affect U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., who has supported the war.

"Herb Kohl is running for re-election and continues to support the war," King said. "If he doesn't listen, it's going to cost him at the ballot box."

Madison is one of 32 cities in Wisconsin to issue the referendum, and according to King, it spurred Milwaukee to put its own referendum on the November ballot.

Bill Richardson, treasurer for opposing organization Vote No to Cut and Run, said while he was "disappointed" about the election results, he was also "realistic."

"We tried and made a great effort … [but] we knew Madison is extremely liberal," he added. "What I found interesting is that it really touched a nerve to the left-wing, and that alone was worth the effort [to campaign]."

While the referendum passed, Richardson said VNCR will not give up on its campaign, because organizations supporting troop withdrawal from Iraq will continue to push the referendum in the state.

And Burns confirmed Richardson's remarks, saying WNPJ will help "anyone in the state of Wisconsin" put a referendum on the ballot.

Despite the defeat, Richardson felt the referendum does not have any big impact right now, and is overall "meaningless."

"City Councils don't set foreign policy whether you like it or not," he noted. "I would rather have people with expertise form policy."

But Tuesday night, Burns enjoyed the fruits of his labor.

"A lot of people worked very hard to put this on the ballot," he said. "They really earned this victory."