Posted on 03/20/2006 9:28:35 PM PST by LdSentinal
March 20, 2006 - Voter turnout Tuesday in Illinois could break an all-time record, a record low. That is because an Election Day snowstorm is headed straight for central Illinois.
A non-presidential primary election usually attracts about a third of all of the registered voters in Illinois. Election experts say a central Illinois snowstorm could reduce Tuesday's statewide turnout to less than 25 percent which would be the lowest in many decades. the turnout forecast for Chicago and the collar counties is good, no rain or snow but windy and chilly. City turnout expected in the 38 percent range.
but watch out downstate, from Peoria to south of Kankakee. A winter storm warning through most of election day with up to an 8 inch snowfall. it is even worse for mid-section of the state. There is a blizzard warning from the time the polls open at 6 a.m. almost until they close at 7, up to nine inches of snow.
not much better for the Champaign-Danville-Charleston area. Winter storm warning there for Election Day, 5 to 9 inches of snow before the precincts close. State Senator Bill Brady's hopes to become the GOP candidate for governor could take the biggest hit from a downstate snowstorm. Brady's most devoted base of support ripples out from his native Bloomington, which is right in the middle of Tuesday's forecasted snowstorm. Brady said Monday he is not worried about the weather, that his supporters are committed.
Even though downstate accounts for only 20 percent of the Republican primary vote, GOP frontrunner Judy Barr Topinka deployed former governor Jim Edgar to the hinterlands of Illinois Monday, trying to convince people to turnout for her, regardless of the weather.
"Primaries are funny things. Polls don't mean a lot. It's all who turns out to vote. Just to reiterate to people, you got to vote tomorrow. If you don't vote tomorrow, you may not have a choice on Election Day in November," said Jim Edgar, former Illinois governor.
For Topinka challengers Ron Gidwitz and Jim Oberweis, a downstate snowstorm will put a premium on getting out their supporters in suburban Chicago.
For incumbent Democratic governor Rob Blagojevich, the expected downstate snowstorm may mean little. Seventy-five of the Democratic vote in Illinois is in metro Chicago.
Election officials say Tuesday's fair weather forecast for Cook County may actually help the turnout in the race for county board president between hospitalized incumbent John Stroger and challenger Forest Claypool. It has become one of the most interesting and unpredictable local contests.
The weather won't be the only unknown Tuesday. New voting equipment in Chicago and Cook County will be used for the first Tim, and election authorities say the returns will be very slow in coming.
In the past few elections, using more familiar time-tested equipment, 90 percent of the votes were in and counted within an hour of the polls closing. Election officials say Tuesday night, they will be lucky to have 9 percent counted in the first hour.
Considering Cook County's history, less voters going to the polls might be a good thing.
One would think that the computerized voting machines being used in Cook County would make the returns come in much faster...
I worked as a cook county election judge in the 04 primary, and we had the votes in in under 10 min after the polls closed. In 04 a computer automatically counted the votes as the day went along, so it won't be much faster.
Ping!
With the snow in Downstate IL, I guess the Bill Brady support that Oberweis is demanding from him won't matter. The key to the GOP primary is how much support the GOP candidates can get from the Cook County suburbs. As a former state senator, Topinka used to represent portions of Cook & Du Page. Topinka needs the Cook suburbs to win the primary.
I would imagine Topinka gets higher numbers than she usually would out of DuPage running on a ticket with Birkett.
Topinka is a RINO of the first order. She is pro-abortion, pro-gay, raises taxes, is not a family values type (she is unmarried), and I hope she loses the primary. I'm voting for Oberweiss myself. Phyllis Schlafly is doing phone recorded messages that are going out all over our county (DuPage, very conservative) saying vote for Oberweiss. I noticed my precinct committeeman (who backs Topinka in his cover letter that comes in a packet w/brochures), put all the Pub candidates for Gov in the packet (Brady, Gidwitz, Topinka), except for Oberweiss, whose turf is here in DuPage. The rest are from other parts of the state. Pretty sneaky (but typical) move by the precinct committeeman, to not put the one candidate from this area's flyer in the packet, because he wants DuPagers to vote for Topinka rather than Oberweiss. Hope it has no effect, but it probably will, as a lot of the people take the sample pre-marked ballot (marked for Topinka for Gov of course) with them to the polls. Hope Oberweiss wins anyway.
That's two of us. I live in central Illinois and it will take more than a blizzard to keep me from voting.
*ping*
Cook county is predicted to have good weather:
the turnout forecast for Chicago and the collar counties is good, no rain or snow but windy and chilly. City turnout expected in the 38 percent range.
Large portions of the rest of the state,areas that are generally more conservative than Cook county will have the blizzard.
For the past couple of weeks in Du Page, I noticed a lot of Brady & Topinka signs on private property. Not much Oberweis & Gidwtz signs on people's homes. I see their signs on the roads though.
Probably a wash, in the long run. </cynicism>
"That's two of us. I live in central Illinois and it will take more than a blizzard to keep me from voting."
Good for you. Two's a start.
This should be updated. Elections now (and increasingly, in future) depend on who writes the software.
(signed) Former 20-year veteran of writing software for the STL election board (AND writing verification software for it...all of it now useless). Ask Joe Neill, head of the election board in STL in 2000 (that was the year the Northsiders got a Northside judge to declare that Northside city polling places should remain open for 2 hours after the state Constitutional closing time, ok?).
He's been my personal attorney for decades, straightest shooter in the world, and he'll give you the whole story of that little fiasco -- which you didn't read in the LLSM, ever -- at your request. FReepmail me.
"is not a family values type (she is unmarried),"
Both statements are true, but I hope you're not implying that being single makes you anti family values. Personally I have been very pro family values and was single for 46 years. I guess I made up for it by getting married and taking on four kids at the same time!
You have my condolences for not having any good choices to choose from. I suppose that, under the circumstantes, voting for Oberweis is making the best of a bad situation.
""is not a family values type (she is unmarried),"
Both statements are true, but I hope you're not implying that being single makes you anti family values. Personally I have been very pro family values and was single for 46 years. I guess I made up for it by getting married and taking on four kids at the same time!"
I'm single, although once married long ago. What I am implying is that for some people who are single, it's easier to be pro-gay, pro-abortion if no kids. Actually, I have since found out that she had been married long ago and had kids, so I take back my comment about her being single (I know she put her last boyfriend on the gov't payroll, and after they broke up she canned him). He did do legitimate work and was qualified for the job, although it still has a bit of a stench to it, especially since he got dumped (in two ways) after the affair was over. He was bitter and ratted her out during this campaign, but obviously it didn't make any difference as she won. The saving grace here is that Joe Birkett, slso on the ticket, is a straight arrow law and order type w/good family values who won the primary position to run for Lt. Gov. in the fall election w/Topinka. He'll help to offset some of her RINO proclivities, I hope.
It's Karl Rove's fault.
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