All politics is local, per the old axiom, but at a time when it seems impossible to avoid what’s happening in Washington, D.C., it’s important to remember we still do owe our attention to local elections – including the one happening right now.
That’s right, if your community has a primary election Feb. 25, early voting started back on Jan. 29 and likely has expanded to multiple sites. In areas without primaries, candidates are already quite active heading into the April 1 election.
I can’t speak for every community, but in our town there has already been one public forum for school district and municipal offices, social media activity is up and yard signs dot the suburban landscape. Perhaps the most encouraging thing so far is neighbors reminding each other how few folks tend to participate in this specific process by highlighting details of narrow margins in previous elections.
Although the State Board of Elections website (elections.il.gov) remains a wealth of information, in odd numbered years the quickest route to useful data is your local election authority. That’s the county clerk’s office unless you live in Bloomington, Chicago, Danville, East St. Louis, Galesburg, Rockford or Peoria County.
Just a few clicks revealed Lake County had 466,223 registered voters in April 2023 and collected only 63,592 ballots – 13.64%. Our village had five candidates for three trustee positions and only 272 votes separating third and fourth place. The website lists each candidate by vote type: election day, early voting, vote by mail and one category for late arrival mail and provincial ballots. It also reports how each candidate fared in all 19 precincts.
Given how few registered voters actually participate, the granular data is less useful than it might be in a general election because the main message is any candidate who can run even a modest turnout operation ought to succeed, especially in races where voters can make multiple choices.
It’s also worth noting that although these are nonpartisan races, the people running are quite often politically aligned. My incumbent mayor can run as an independent but regularly endorses Republican officials. Her opponent is an avowed Democrat. And while there are instances where those affiliations bleed into municipal choices – such as dealing with the elimination of the statewide grocery tax – in large part municipal government is basic, nonpolitical management.
While each candidate voted quite differently last November, that doesn’t need to affect how they feel about whether an intersection needs a four-way stop sign or if it’s the right time to borrow money to upgrade the water treatment plant. School and library boards might seem more politically charged, but the root issues still need functional administration.
Plan now to be informed and involved.
• Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Local News Network. He can be reached at sholland@shawmedia.com.
:quality(70)/s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/shawmedia/55aeee77-0609-4323-931a-c6686fff01e6.png)