McHenry County Blog

I ask McHenry County State’s Attorney Lou Bianchi what his office was going to do on Election Day.  Here’s the answer:

“Donna Kelly, Chief of our Civil Division is available throughout the day to handle calls from any precinct, citizen and from oue County Clerk.

“We also have 5 teams (of 2)  that will be traveling and visiting precincts from 8:15 until 5:00 p.m. tomorrow and  can assist in handling any complaints.

“We have three investigators available to respond to calls.”

The number to call is 815.334.4159.

Some governmental entities like the Crystal Lake Park District have rules against posting political signs on Park District property.

That’s reasonable, except on election day.

I remember one hotly contested election during which I put signs in from of my polling place, the Crystal Lake Park District’s Main Beach House.

Park District employees took them down, telling me about the then-new ordinance.

Attorney Rich Jackson went to court and got an injunction preventing enforcement of the ordinance that day.

Now, I learn that a State law (10 ILCS 5/7-41) (from Chapter 46, par. 7-41, reproduced here) has been passed declaring “the area on polling place property beyond the campaign free zone (100 feet from the door of the polling room), whether publicly or privately owned, is a public fourm for the time that the polls are open on election day.”

The statute goes on to say,

“A person shall have the right to congregate and engage in electioneering on any polling place prope3rty while the polls are open beyond the campaign free zone, included but not limited to, the placement of temporary signs. This subsection shall be construed liberally in favor of persons engaging in electioneering…”

The Courthouse

Employees of McHenry County Clerk Kathie Schultz were opening absentee ballots this morning.

Office employees were also printing more ballots for Nunda Township. Ten percent had been delivered to each precinct but Kathie Schultz said that some precincts were running short.

Algonquin Township

At about 12:30, only 24 had voted in my Algonquin Township 7 precinct.  Twenty-two had voted in Algonquin 19.

Nunda Township

“My friend in Nunda 18 (Rotary Building @ Vet Acres) just texted me and told me that they ran out of ballots and it was a long wait to vote!

“I was #45 at 11:15, and there were 4 people ahead of me at the Fountains.

“At 1:15 on my way home from a meeting Nunda roads were not plowed.”

Keely Cat will be most disturbed if readers of McHenry County Blog who live in Algonquin, Dorr, Grafton and Nunda Township don’t vote today.

Trust me. You do not want to be on Keely’s wrong side.

A press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office:

U.S. ATTORNEY’S OFFICE TO CONDUCT ELECTION DAY MONITORING ELECTION DAY HOTLINE: (312) 469-6157

CHICAGO — The U.S. Attorney’s Office will monitor the general election in Chicago and surrounding suburbs on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012, Gary S. Shapiro, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, announced today.

As part of the monitoring effort, the office will operate a hotline for candidates or the public to call to report any complaints relating to voting.

In addition, Assistant U.S. Attorneys and other personnel will be monitoring certain polling places, while other attorneys will be available to respond to complaints as needed.

The hotline number, staffed on Election Day only, is (312) 469-6157.

“This office has a long tradition of monitoring the polls on Election Day to help protect the integrity of the voting process,” Mr. Shapiro said. “No one who is entitled to vote should in any way be inhibited from doing so, and we stand ready to ensure a fair process for all.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Heinze coordinates the office’s election monitoring efforts and subsequent investigations, if any, in consultation with the Justice Department. The Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Marshals Service will assist in this effort by following-up, if necessary, on any election fraud and voting rights complaints.

Complaints about ballot access problems or discrimination can also be made directly to the Civil Rights Division’s Voting Section in Washington at 1-800-253-3931 or 202-307-2767.

Federal law protects against such crimes as intimidating or bribing voters, buying and selling votes, altering vote tallies, stuffing ballot boxes, and marking ballots for voters against their wishes or without their input. It also contains special protections for the rights of voters and provides that they can vote free from acts that intimidate or harass them. For example, actions of persons designed to interrupt or intimidate voters at polling places by questioning or challenging them, or by photographing or videotaping them, under the pretext that these are actions to uncover illegal voting may violate federal voting rights law. Further, federal law protects the right of voters to mark their own ballot or to be assisted by a person of their choice.

Violations of federal voting rights statutes carry penalties ranging from 1 to 10 years imprisonment and fines up to $250,000.

As the election has less than three more hours for Illinois voters to cast ballots, Congressman Randy Hultgren’s campaign manager Joe Calomino is telling supporters of the low turnout and urging them to vote:

Rob Abraham, candidate for GOP Precinct Committeeman, stands outside his Lake in the Hills polling place.

“It appears that voter turnout is well below average today. If you haven’t voted yet there’s still time.

“It is so important that we elect quality candidates to represent the GOP and our shared values leading into the 2012 General Election at every level of government from the White House to the Court House.

“The future of our communities and our nation rest in your hands…so please VOTE today and have your voices heard.

Running in one of the few contests for Republican Precinct Committeeman, Janness Abraham stands outside her Nunda Township polling place.

“Not sure where to vote?

“Click here to find out.

“Thank you,

“Joe Calomino, Campaign Manager
Hultgren for Congress”

Hultgren is running unopposed.

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If you have election day photographs, email them to McHenry County Blog.

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Turnout at Crystal Lake’s Main Beach House polling place seemed low to me.

In my Algonquin Township Precinct 7, 77 Republicans and 4 Democrats had voted by the time I showed up about 3:45.

In the other precinct that votes there, Algonquin 19, there were 57 Republicans and 7 Democrats.

Total votes two years ago were 114 for the GOP and 30 for the Democrats in Algonquin 7, while in Algonquin 19 there were 107 Republican votes and 36 Democrats. But those figures included early voting and absentee votes, which are not included in the 3:45 vote counts seen above.

Of course, if it were a contested Crystal Lake City Council election, the Council members up for re-election might not want to remind people to cast ballots, if they voted for the monument Tax Increment Financing District expenditures.

And, it could help pay for the four $16,000 stone pillars.
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Photoshopping by one Heck of a Guy blogster Allan Showalter.

47 people had voted in Crystal Lake’s Immanuel Lutheran Church precinct at 3 PM.

There are 804 registered voters, so only 5.8% of the people had voted by mid-afternoon.

On election day, how could I resist this button that was published by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch?

It was in a story about voting in the East St. Louis, Illinois, area.

So, what’s this got to do with McHenry County.

Just an excuse to offer this observation:

Voter turnout this year will be so low that any candidate can still win.

It would surprise me not at all if voter turnout is well below 20% of the registered voters.

In such a contest, any candidate can win.

All one has to do is get more of your supporters to the polls than the opponent or opponents.

You do that by following Abraham Lincoln’s advice to identify your supporters and get them to the polls.

Easy to say.

Not easy to do.

Most candidates, including myself in times past, are not aggressive enough in encouraging, repeatedly encouraging their supporters to vote.

We are now in the early voting stage of the election. That’s how the Democrats managed to get a majority for Barack Obama in McHenry County in 2008.

No reason why local candidates can do the same.