Voter turnout low throughout the suburbs

As expected, voter turnout has been low for municipal elections so far Tuesday, county election judges and clerks confirmed.

Officials from the Cook County Clerks office said long lines witnessed last November for the presidential election are a distant memory, and polling places swamped last year have been virtually empty as of noon Tuesday.

"From what I've seen, it's been pretty slow out there for sure," said Cook County Clerk David Orr, who has been going from polling place to polling place all morning. "But, voter turn out for municipal elections is always slower than presidential elections."

Election judges at Forest View Educational Center on Goebbert Road in Arlington Heights said only 25 people had voted by 11 a.m., despite the fact that three precincts are run out of the center.

Courtney Greve, spokeswoman for the Cook County Clerks Office, said the office has no clear indication what the voter turnout will be when polls close at 7 p.m.

"We don't do exit polling ourselves, so I cant even take a guess at what the final turnout number could be," she said. "But, voter turnout all depends on the individual town. One village might have a hot button issue on the ballot so their turnout will be way up compared to another town that doesn't have the same issue on the ballot."

She said the lowest voter turnout in Cook County over the past 10 years has been 17 percent.

She said there have fewer complaints than in past elections. The worst complaint, she said, was a candidate running for Streamwood Park District board who was campaigning too close to a precinct polling place.

Lake County Clerk Williard Helander said not only has it been slow so far, but she wouldn't be stunned if voter turnout did not exceed 20 percent when polls close tonight.

"Based on the amount of early voter ballots we took in, we didn't think we would get over 20 percent county wide," she said. "Some places like Wauconda, where there are big races on the ballot, the turnout will be higher. But, when the county averages out, I suspect we will come in lower than 20 percent countywide."