Early polling glitch means incomplete results in McHenry County

Problems with electronic voting in McHenry County on Tuesday resulted in incomplete results by press time.

Readers should visit www.dailyherald.com Wednesday morning for McHenry County primary election results, as the website continued to be updated after the print deadline closed.

All races involving McHenry County voters were affected, but none more so than county board races and primaries for the McHenry County Board chairman, state's attorney and recorder of deeds.

As of 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, some races showed anywhere from seven to 16 precincts counted out of 212 countywide.

When polls opened at 6 a.m. Tuesday there were isolated problems with some electronic poll books experiencing glitches, including those in Chemung, Nunda, McHenry, Algonquin and Grafton townships, said Clerk Mary McClellan.

Twelve locations were affected for about 15 minutes, she said.

"It was enough to stir the masses," she said. "We were able to overcome it and get everybody back on track."

All polls in McHenry County stayed open until 8:30 p.m. to accommodate voters.

State Rep. Jack Franks said he heard of several people being turned away from polling locations, but McClellan said that was unconfirmed.

McClellan and State's Attorney Lou Bianchi brought the issue to the circuit court, where an emergency motion was made to extend polling hours, Franks said.

"I didn't want to disenfranchise any voter," McClellan said.

All races up and down the ballot are affected by the lack of results, from U.S. presidential primaries and U.S. Senate primaries to congressional delegates and state legislative races.