Voter: Local Election Just May Not Have Been 'Interesting' Enough

Several Glenview area precincts were quiet Tuesday, April 5 as few voters trickled in to cast their ballots.

Many were not surprised, considering there were.

"Well, when you have three candidates running for three slots," said voter Howard Simons, "it just isn't that interesting."

Simons also echoed what many other Glenview areas residents and election judges said: there just wasn't much from candidates -- or much publicity -- leading up to the election.

"There wasn't a lot of campaigning," said Simons, who voted in Northfield Twp. Precinct 13 at 

Peter Heinz, a voter who cast his ballot at the , said he was mostly familiar with the races for Glenview Public Library Board of Trustees and .

"The [voting] process was pretty painless and user-friendly," Heinz said. 

Over at  Precinct 33 election judge Charles Salinger has been an election judge for four elections and said the lower turnout -- just four votes out of 875 by nearly 3 p.m. -- was new.

"It's definitely different," he said.

However, many who did come out to vote were lured by weighing on a possible $2.2 million for . 

 "It's very important to keep the schools funded," said Mrs. Markovich, a voter who asked that her first name be withheld. 

Vic Sholis, an election judge for Precinct 70, said the referenda on the ballot most likely contributed to a steady stream of voters, with 58 voting in-person and 33 absentee ballots by 1 p.m. of an estimated 1,100 registered voters in the area.

'Doing the People's Business'

Even through the hours with no voters, election judges appeared to take it in stride.

Nadia Appel, an election judge at Precinct 51, said the voting equipment was fine and the set-up went smoothly.

Her only complaint was as a voter: "We don't know the candidates," she said. "We don't know who they are and we don't have any selection," Appel added, referring to uncontested races.

"We have no clue who they are and what they stand for," she said.

By about 2 p.m., the only problem Precinct 70 had was a faulty touch screen that was replaced by the Cook County Board of Elections and in the meantime, "did not disrupt the process," Vic Sholis said.

Sholis, a first-time election judge, said he was pleased at how the election team worked together, especially because each team had Democrats and Republicans.

"We need to send a note to the folks in Washington [D.C.]," he said. "We're doing a great job here, working and doing the people's business."