Bad weather fails to deter voters
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| Philip Marruffo/Telegraph Katherine Bertling, of Dixon, walks out of the voting booth Tuesday afternoon at the Loveland Community Building. |
BY MALINDA OSBORNE
SVN REPORTER
mosborne@svnmail.com
Whether motivated by civic duty, a desire for change or to weigh in on a specific local election, an impressive amount of voters turned out Tuesday to cast their ballots.
Various precincts in Sterling, Rock Falls, Dixon and Prophetstown reported steady stream of voters throughout the day. In fact, a number of voters said they came in earlier to avoid the snowy weather that began early afternoon Tuesday.
"The weather has not hindered them one bit," said Donna Wilson, an election judge at St. Patrick's Church in Dixon. "We haven't had time to read or crochet at all today."
Wilson said she was impressed with the turnout, even going so far as to note that more people turned out than for a general election. By the end of the day, her precinct had 399 ballots cast in a district of 700 registered voters, which means about 200 had voted because most took two ballots. Typically that figure is about 25 percent less, Wilson said.
Susan Presley, another Dixon election judge at the church, cited a number of factors for the higher than normal turnout.
"Some people feel strongly about the presidential race. Locally, the judges' race has brought people out. Even the county board race among Republicans has some competition," Presley said.
In Prophetstown, election officials described voter turnout as busier than in recent primaries.
"It has been steady," said Stu Richter, an election judge at Winning Wheels in Prophetstown. "I think this election in general there has been a lot more interest. This year it is making a difference."
One trend a number of election officials picked up on was the high amount of Democratic ballots taken. Donald Gnaedinger, an election official at the Harvest Bible Time Church in Rock Falls, said they outnumbered Republicans 2-to-1.
The same could be said for a number of precincts in Sterling. Election judge Mary Kahley said her traditionally Republican district has turned into a Democratic one this year.
"I've worked for 30 years here. It used to be 1-to-3 for Democrats and now it's 3-to-1," Kahley said. "I think they're ready for change, whether it's the economy, war or gas prices."
Election judge George Bellovics said he saw a lot of crossover in ballot selection at his precinct in the Elks Lodge in Dixon.
"Some have split ballots, like they'll take a Democratic one for the primaries and a Republican one for the special election," Bellovics said, referring to the race for the seat vacated early by Congressman Dennis Hastert.
National issues closest to a some local voters' hearts were the economy, health care and the war in Iraq.
Jean Opperman, of Dixon, said she cares passionately about health care after seeing a relative have a hard time finding doctors who would accept Medicare or Medicaid patients who are on disability. For her, Illinois U.S. Sen. Barak Obama was the candidate who offered the best choice.
"I pretty much had my mind made on Obama. Let's give him a chance. He can't mess it up anymore than (President George) Bush already has," Opperman said. "It's time for a change."
For some, making a decision for whom to vote for wasn't as easy.
Betty Dahlgren, of Sterling, said she was torn on whom to vote for in the Republican presidential primary race.
"The economy is important to me. I'm also a strong pro-lifer. Moral issues are basic. I vote according to that," Dahlgren said.
Reach Malinda Osborne at (815) 284-2222 or (800) 798-4085, ext. 526.
