February 19, 2025
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Some McHenry County polling locations changed as students return to school buildings used in November

Some Riley Township voters reported not receiving notice of the changes sent out in mid-January and so notices were sent again earlier this week

By Kelli Duncan
Election judges Jack O”Leary and Randy Geisler talk as they wait for voters Saturday morning, Feb. 20, 2021, at the McHenry County Administration Building in Woodstock, during in-person early voting for the Feb. 23 consolidated primary. Republican primary races are being held for Algonquin Township, Grafton Township and Nunda Township offices. Only Republican ballots are available for this primary election. The winners of these races will appear on the April 6 ballot when municipal, school board and other local races are on the ballot. Early voting for the primary is available through Monday, Feb. 22, at: • McHenry County Administration Building, 667 Ware Road, Woodstock; • McHenry City Hall, 333 S. Green St., McHenry; • Nunda Township Offices, 3510 Bay Road, Crystal Lake; and • Lake in the Hills Village Hall, 600 Harvest Gate, Lake in the Hills. Voting hours for these four locations will be 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 21; and 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Feb. 22.

Election judges Jack O”Leary and Randy Geisler talk as they wait for voters Saturday morning, Feb. 20, 2021, at the McHenry County Administration Building in Woodstock, during in-person early voting for the Feb. 23 consolidated primary. (Gregory Shaver for Shaw Media )

Some McHenry County polling locations had to be changed leading up to the April 6 election, in part, because students have returned to the school buildings used in the November election, McHenry County Clerk Joe Tirio said.

The November election brought changes for voters in many precincts as various public and private locations, such as nursing homes or senior centers, did not want to take on the risk of hosting voters during a pandemic, Tirio said in an interview Wednesday. In many cases, schools stepped up to take their place as remote learning left them with unused facilities.

“We certainly don’t want to change [them],” he said. “It makes our life certainly simpler if they don’t have to change, but we are sort of at the whim of the host building.”

In preparing for the April election, the county clerk’s office knew changes would again be necessary as school buildings were occupied with the return of in-person learning, he said. With lower COVID-19 infection rates than those reported in November, other partners said they would be more willing to open their doors to voters in April, he said.

Tirio’s office sent out notices of the changes to every impacted precinct in the middle of January to give time for voters to prepare ahead of the start of early voting, he said.

Tirio said his office recently heard from a voter in a Riley Township precinct who said they had not received the notice but had heard that their polling place may have changed. They also heard another secondhand report that others in the area may not have received it, he said.

In response, the clerk’s office sent new notices to everyone in the Riley Township precinct earlier this week informing them that their polling location for the April 6 election will be at the Marengo Park District located at 825 Indian Oaks Trail in Marengo.

Any voters who are unsure of what precinct they are in or where their precinct’s polling place is can go to the McHenry County Clerk’s Office website and click on the link to the “Sample Ballot and Polling Place Locator.”

Anyone without access to the internet can call the County Clerk’s Office at 815-334-4242.

“Everyone should get out and vote,” Tirio said. “This is such an important election for your community. This is an opportunity for people to really impact what’s happening in their neighborhood.”


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