A mock election conducted by the Madison City Clerk’s Office Tuesday intended to test out the effects of the voter ID bill found voters would have to wait significantly longer to cast their ballots, which some city officials said could turn voters away from the polls.

According to a statement from the City Clerk’s office, nine election officials and 154 voters participated in the mock election.

When two Election Officials were at the poll book, the average amount of time each voter had to wait in line was approximately four minutes, the statement said. With the addition of a third official, the average waiting time was shortened to one minute and 18 seconds per voter.

Splitting the pool book alphabetically into A-L and M-Z also reduced the waiting time to one minute and six seconds times the number of voters waiting in line, according to the statement.

City Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl said longer waiting time might bring logistical problems to voters.

“We’ve had people tell us that they will never miss an election again, so I think there is a lot of interest in voting, and people want to make sure that they can vote,” Witzel-Behl said. “But there are also many logistic problems that may come into effect. People may not have a lot of time to wait before they go to work. Some people may also have things to do like picking up their children from day care.”

She said adding a third official helped but would not make the line move a lot faster than it used to be in the past.

“For example, you will have to wait for 32 minutes when there are 30 people in line,” she said. “When you think about it, that isn’t really a lot of people. Every second adds up when it takes time to pick out your ID and to reach the poll book.”

Ald. Scott Resnick, District 8, said city officials were looking for any strategies to shorten the waiting time.

“I really hope that the longer waiting time won’t lower the turnout rate, but we know that it is one of the consequences,” he said. “We are trying to be as efficient as possible. We will look for strategies particularly on campus and make sure that there will not be any confusion about the voting process.”

A second mock election is coming up this fall on campus, and this time the voter registration process will be included, Witzel-Behl said.