Small turnout for early voting in DuPage
Fewer than 6 percent of DuPage County's 558,929 registered voters cast early ballots, officials said Friday.
DuPage Election Commission officials said 32,385 voters took advantage of the 18-day early voting period that ended Thursday. More than a quarter of early voters cast ballots in the final two days at the county's 12 locations.
The last election featuring a gubernatorial race was in 2006, and 21,232 voters cast early ballots in DuPage then, commission officials said.
“The one thing we may consider going forward is having later hours during the week at more locations,” said Doreen Nelson, the commission's assistant executive director. “Generally, we had three sites this time with doors open until 7 p.m. and we'd like to have more open until then.”
Voters wishing to avoid the Tuesday rush may still cast absentee ballots Saturday and Monday at the DuPage Election Commission headquarters at 421 N. County Farm Road in Wheaton. Unlike previous years where voters had to explain why they couldn't vote on Election Day, absentee voting no longer has those restrictions, Nelson said.
Stratford Square Mall in Bloomingdale received the most traffic from early voters with 4,203 ballots cast at that location. The Naperville Municipal Center came in second with 3,893 ballots cast. The least-utilized early voting center was the Aurora Public Library, which also is the newest. Only 1,202 ballots were cast there.
“We opened that for the February primary to relieve some of the pressure at Naperville,” Nelson said.
The DuPage chapter of the Illinois Ballot Integrity project remains critical of the commission's early voting processes, complaining that all early voting is done on electronic voting machines rather than on paper ballots. They note the only exception is at the commission's headquarters, where a few machines for paper ballots were accessible during early voting. Organization officials contend votes can be manipulated on electronic machines.
“There are other counties in Illinois, including Will and Lake, where early voting is conducted on paper opti-scan ballots,” said Jean Kaczmarek, co-chairwoman of the organization. “It is possible to do the same thing in DuPage County.”
Commission Executive Director Bob Saar said there have been no complaints about the early voting process or the machines. Voters are able to print out a record of the ballot they cast on the electronic machines, he said.
“If anyone says that there have been problems, I would go so far as to say it's a fabrication,” Saar said.
Saar said the commission is following all state election laws and that groups that have concerns should get the state legislature to make any changes.
“This isn't an issue that is DuPage-centric,” Saar said. “It's a state issue that should be handled by the legislature.”
Saar is predicting a 50 percent turnout once all the votes are counted Tuesday.
Early voting
<p>Here's where DuPage County's early voters cast their ballots this year.</p>
<p>Stratford Square Mall (Bloomingdale): 4,203</p>
<p>Naperville Municipal Center: 3,893</p>
<p>Downers Grove Village Hall: 3,684</p>
<p>Election Commission (Wheaton): 3,517</p>
<p>Five Seasons Sports Club (Burr Ridge): 3,335</p>
<p>Yorktown Center (Lombard): 3,265</p>
<p>Glen Ellyn Civic Center: 2,177</p>
<p>Addison Township: 2,075</p>
<p>Elmhurst City Hall: 1,912</p>
<p>Lisle Village Hall: 1,728</p>
<p>Bartlett Community Center: 1,293</p>
<p>Aurora Public Library: 1,202</p>
<p>Total: 32,285</p>
<p>Source: DuPage Election Commission</p>