Election Day Updates! Voter Turnout Shockingly Low — 9.81% in Kane

Election Day Updates! Voter Turnout Shockingly Low — 9.81% in Kane

/ April 3, 2019 / Comments Off on Election Day Updates! Voter Turnout Shockingly Low — 9.81% in Kane / Communities, Consumers, Elections, Events, Government, Public Service, Quirky and Fun

What were the takeaways from the Tuesday, April 2, election results in Kane County?

Here are just a few.

Voter turnout was shockingly low. Elections that don’t feature a president or governor or hot-button issue typically don’t bring out a lot of voters, and April 2, 2019, followed the pattern and then some. Preliminary reports indicatevoter turnout in Kane County was 9.81 percent.

Incumbency still works if you’re a mayor or village president. There might be change happening in the city of Chicago, with Lori Lightfoot’s big Tuesday night win, but the two contested mayoral races in Kane were relatively easy victories for the incumbents. David Kaptain won in Elgin, Rick Overstreet in Lily Lake.

Five other top municipal posts were uncontested races, with Dean Hummell winning the Big Rock village president seat, Michael Tyrrell winning in Campton Hills, Steve Wiedmeyer in Pingree Grove, Jamie LeBlanc in Virgil and Eileen Phipps in Wayne.

It’s no surprise that bricks-and-mortar referendums usually fare better than tax-rate increases. That held true in Kane County, as the Huntley library easily won voter approval for a $12.9 million referendum to remodel and build an addition.

Meanwhile, municipal retailers tax referendums fell in South Elgin by a slim margin but won in Elburn.

The biggest changes might have been in school boards. There are more than a few newcomers on boards throughout Kane County following Tuesday’s election.

There were, of course, some shockers and close calls. Among the most unusual is that two write-in candidates won electin for for Sugar Grove alderman.

And in Nearby Chicago …

Got an Election Irregularity? Here’s The Cure

— 2:30PM UPDATE

Get Out And Vote!

— 2PM UPDATE

Polls are open until 7 p.m.

What Are The Interesting Contests on Election Night?

— 11:30 AM UPDATE

“Interesting,” of course, is in the eye of the beholder. If you’re running for library board, that contest is going to be pretty dang interesting to you.

That said, the local elections that likely will grab the biggest headlines at the end of the night will be the mayor and village president contests, the referendums and the school board races.

Perhaps the most anticipated will be the outcome in Elgin, where incumbent Mayor David Kaptain is challenged by Elgin City Councilwoman Carol Rauschenberger. This is a biggy, of course, because Elgin is the second-largest city by population in Kane County — and the ninth largest in the state.

It’s also a biggy because an incumbent is going up against a well-known councilwoman. Who will win? Tune in to this article to find out the results.

There are a bunch of interesting referendums.

For folks in Huntley, the biggest is the $12.9 million building bond referendum, which would pay for be issued remodeling the existing library building and building an addition.

Voters will have a rare opportunity to weigh in on the organization of local fire protection districts in the Dundee area. The Rutland-Dundee Townships Fire Protection District is asking voters whether they should continue efforts to consolidate fire and medical emergency services with other districts — including the Village of West Dundee, and/or the Village of West Dundee, and/or the East Dundee and Countryside Fire Protection District, and/or the Village of Carpentersville.

And Campton Hills will ask the not-so-age-old question about whether residents want video gaming in town.

Click here for the results of those and other local referendums.

Finally, the school boards make decisions that affect about 68.6 percent of your property tax bill. There are contested races in School District U-46, Batavia District 101, West Aurora District 129, East Aurora District 131, Community School District 300, Geneva District 304 and St. Charles District 303.

Click here for the results of school board elections.

So, What Are You Going To Cover on Election Night?

— 10:20AM UPDATE

Glad you asked.

Kane County Connects will report tonight’s results in three categories:

We’ll report contested race results and do our best to combine the totals from various reporting sources when the races or referendums involve multiple counties. That’s the primary service we provide on election night — making it easier to find the information you’re looking for.

So, what are the other races, chopped liver?

Absolutely not. The “other” races are often the most closely contested and interesting. They include library board, park board, regional education boards and fire district trustees.

It’s just that, I’m one guy, and keeping up with three running totals is about all I can manage on election night. We’ll post more information in this take and in a roundup story after the election.

In the meantime, if you want to follow along for any contest in Kane County, the best source might be the 2019 Consolidated Election Contest Results page on the Kane County Clerk’s Office website.

‘I Voted’

— 10 AM UPDATE

I, Rick Nagel, editor of Kane County Connects, voted at around 7:30 a.m. in Geneva.

It was easy, to say the least.

The biggest decision on my ballot was probably the School Board race, in which there are nine candidates seeking three seats. Although there is also a hard choice about who to leave out of the musical chairs for Library Board.

I strongly recommend, before you go to vote, reviewing your personalized sample ballot on the Kane County Clerk’s Office website. The reason?

If you get to be my age, you forget who it was you decided to vote for. (As you can see by the photo at left, I have a tiny little head that doesn’t contain enough memory.)

With a small amount of preparation, you can avoid angst at the polls.

 

 

 

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