Nancy Geitner of Batavia came to the Kane County Clerk’s Office in Geneva on Monday to vote early in the primary election, set for March 19.
“I want to avoid the crowds and actually we’re taking a little vacation and not coming back until the day before the primary election and it (voting) might slip my mind,” Geitner said. “I’d be upset if I missed it.”
Early voting for the primary election next week opened back on Feb. 8 with two sites in Kane County – the county clerk’s office in Geneva and its satellite location in Aurora. Last week, the number of early voting sites expanded to 25 locations. A list of early voting sites is available on the clerk’s website at https://clerk.kanecountyil.gov/Elections.
Kane County Clerk John Cunningham said he has been working to get feedback on new voting equipment the county is using for the primary election.
“I’ve been visiting all the voting sites and have about three left to see this week before the actual election day,” Cunningham said Monday. “I wanted to see how the judges were doing because it was the first time they basically set up (the new equipment) and wanted to see if there were any problems that they had. As voters were coming out I wanted to ask how they liked or would accept the new equipment and it’s been positive. I’m quite pleased with it.”
Touch screens have replaced knob-oriented voting machines this election season and Cunningham said the learning curve has been very minimal. He said a video about the new equipment is available online at https://player.vimeo.com/video/424927979?h=65992e8c9c&title=0&byline=0&portrait=0
Regarding early voter turnout for the primary election, “over 11,000 to 12,000 votes have been cast already,” Cunningham said Monday.
“I’m pleased with the turnout,” he said. “The people are voting.”
As of 8 a.m. Monday a total of 12,589 votes had been cast in Kane County out of 319,000 registered voters, which officials said is about average at this stage of the election process.
“I think we could probably say it’s average but it should be higher as we have so many permanent vote-by-mail ballots,” he said.
Cunningham said he is currently working on a program he hopes will be rolled out before the November election “where you can look at an app on your phone and be able to tell where there are lines and not lines” at polling places.
“We are in the experimental stage and we’re going to try and get it out by the November election,” he said.
Nancy Geitner and her husband Todd said while being able to vote early is nice, it isn’t essential.
“My parents all went on election day and they voted. I mean, this is nice, it’s available. However, I don’t feel it’s a necessity,” Nancy Geitner said of early voting. “If you’re traveling or my parents always had a ballot sent to them because they were elderly and couldn’t get out but I understand why they did this during COVID.”
“I think a lot of people would skip voting day – especially during the presidential (election years) because the lines can get pretty long,” Todd Geitner added. “If early voting can be controlled and verified and checked – I think it’s a good idea but only if it’s done correctly.”
Cunningham said he “doesn’t mind the early voting” but wishes that “the election was over on election day.”
“Right now it’s not over until 15 days afterwards,” he said due to waiting on mail-in ballots.
“Officials have extended it (the election) as long as your mail-in ballot was posted before the election, then you basically have to count it,” he said. “It makes it more difficult for us and basically disappoints people who find those that won on election day lost 15 days later.”
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
