Tuesday’s Oswego GOP primary complicates early voting schedule for Kendall County’s April 4 election

The Oswego Republican primary balloting on Feb. 28 is having a ripple effect on the early voting schedule for the April 4 consolidated election.

Kendall County Clerk Debbie Gillette said in-person early voting will not get underway until March 20, while March 30 will be the deadline for the clerk’s Election’s Office to receive vote-by-mail applications.

Voters throughout Kendall County will have a shorter-than-normal timeframe to cast in-person early ballots for the April 4 election as Gillette’s office awaits the final mail-in ballots for the Oswego GOP primary to arrive.

The primary results are to be certified on March 21, Gillette said.

Candidates in Oswego are running under party labels and the Republicans seeking village president and trustee have contested races.

Ballots for the April 4 election cannot be finalized until the winners of the Oswego GOP races have been determined. Requests for mail-in ballots may be made now.

Meanwhile, in-person early voting at the Kendall County Office Building, 111 W. Fox St. in Yorkville, continues to be very light.

Gillette said Feb. 21 that about early 45 ballots have been cast, while about 115 mail-in ballots have been returned out of roughly 315 requested.

The Feb. 28 primary for Republican candidates seeking seats on the Oswego Village Board and for board president will be the only election in Kendall County that day.

The consolidated election, in which voters throughout the county will select municipal, school, library and fire protection district officials, is April 4.

Winners of the Oswego GOP primary will face Democratic candidates in that election.

The tiny number of in-person early voting ballots cast may be attributed in part to the fact that the only location to do so is at the Elections Office in Yorkville.

There will be six Oswego locations for voting on primary Election Day for the same reason: a cost-saving measure.

Mail-in ballots need to be postmarked no later than Feb. 28 and must be received by the Elections Office by March 14 in order to be counted.

Gillette predicts low voter turnout for the Oswego primary. She said that the consolidated election in 2019 produced a voter turnout of less than 15%, while the 2017 contest was less than 12%.

The Oswego voting precincts will be consolidated into six polling places on Election Day.

• Voters from Bristol precincts 3 and 5 will cast ballots at Crosspointe Church, 8 W. Rickard Drive.

• Those from Oswego precincts 2, 7, 21, 25 and 26 will vote at Hunt Club Elementary School, 4001 Hunt Club Drive.

• Voters from Oswego precincts 3, 4, 30 and 33 will cost ballots at Oswego East High School, 1525 Harvey Road.

• Voters in Oswego precincts 10, 11, 22, 28 and 32 will vote at Oswego Village Hall, 100 Parkers Mill.

• Voters from Oswego precincts 13, 17, 20 and 24 will cast ballots at Thompson Junior High School, 440 Boulder Hill Pass.

• Those from Oswego precincts 16, 23, 29 and 31 will vote at Southbury Elementary School, 820 Preston Lane.

Oswego Village President Troy Parlier is being challenged in his reelection bid by village Trustee Brian Thomas. Both filed as Republicans. The primary winner will face former Trustee Ryan Kauffman, a Democrat, in the April 4 election.

Meanwhile, incumbent trustees running as Republicans are James T. Marter II and Terry Olson. Also filing under the GOP banner are Robert Lockwood, Michael J. Wirtz, Sarah Zemeda and Jason Kapus.

The top three vote-getters in the Republican primary will face off in the April 4 election against the three candidates for trustee who filed as Democrats, including Karin McCarthy-Lange, Luis Perez and Andrew Torres.

Both McCarthy-Lange and Perez previously served on the board.