Election Judge: Residents Not Taking 'Local Issues As Seriously'

Editor's note: This post has been updated below with a dispatch from Congregational Church of Batavia.

Congregational Church of Batavia

Linda Scimeca, election judge at the Congregational Church of Batavia,
said voter turnout has so far been light at her precinct.

Scimeca said what’s on the ballot usually determines the turnout.

“It’s because it’s not a general election,” Scimeca said. “People have
a tendency not to take local issues as seriously.”

By noon, only 89 voters had shown up to cast their votes.

Scimeca hopes more members of the community will come out as the day goes on.

“The local issues still affect people,” she said.

For more Batavia Patch election coverage, click here. For more dispatches from the polls, continue reading below.

Lincoln Inn Banquets

For Sue Locke, voting isn’t an option, it’s a responsibility.

“I’ve never missed an election,” Locke, a Batavia resident, said. “I always vote.”

Today she was at the polls to cast a vote for Cathy Dremel, one of three challengers running for a Batavia School Board seat.

“If you don’t vote, you have no right to complain,” Locke said.

She was one of only 63 residents who had made it in to vote by noon today at the Lincoln Inn precinct.

Election judge Betty Pittman said voting turnout had been “extremely low,” but anticipated more people coming in as the day wore on.

“Usually we get a big rush around noon time, and another rush from the time the kids get home from school until seven,” she said.

An election judge for more than 30 years, Pittman said her precinct was one of the highest voting in Kane County.

She attributes the low voter turnout to the ballot.

“There are no big issues, other than the (Kane County) Forest Preserve (referendum),” she said.

Batavia VFW

Voter turnout has been slow this morning for the election judges at the Batavia VFW Post 1197 precinct on the city's east side.

Though doors opened at 6 a.m., election judge Ann Murtaugh said the first voters didn’t show up until around 8:30 a.m.

As of 10:30 a.m., only 33 community members had cast their votes at the VFW post, 645 S. River St.

“(Turnout) has been very low,” Murtaugh said.

She attributes some of the low attendance to Early Voting.

“I believe a lot of individuals have taken advantage of Early Voting,” she said.

Murtaugh, who has been an election judge for eight years, is not surprised by the low turnout.

"This is natural when you don't have a lot on the ticket," she said.

The only two local contested races are for a Ward 4 City Council seat and for three Batavia School Board seats.

The Batavia VFW is a polling site for those in the 4th Ward.

Check back for more updates from other polling sites.