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Politics & Government

Early Voting Ends with Increased Turnout

Voters can still cast their ballot before Tuesday at the Skokie Courthouse.

ended yesterday with 389 ballots cast at the Glenview Village Hall out of more than 27,000 votes made in Cook County, according to a news release from Cook County Clerk David Orr. 

This year’s local total was a 22 percent increase from the 2009 contest when 305 people marked ballots at . In 2007, the first year of early voting for municipal contests, there was no early voting site in the Glenview. Also important to remember, voters who reside in Suburban Cook County were able to cast ballots at any early voting site in the county (outside of the city), so the number of people who voted at the Village Hall does not necessarily reflect the amount of Glenview citizens who voted early.

“Usually early voting, particularly in these local elections is a good indicator of interest, more so than in the even number years when you have people running at the state, county level,” Cook County Clerk David Orr told Patch. 

Find out what's happening in Glenviewwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Early voting has increased each municipal election, said Cook County Clerk spokesperson Courtney Greve. In 2007, the first year residents were able to cast votes early, 8,023 voted and the number climbed to 25,737 in 2009. .

The heaviest pace of early voting took place this week with more than 10,000 participants—38 percent of all early voters—making their choice since Monday, Greve said. Monday was the busiest day with 1,970 votes cast. 

Find out what's happening in Glenviewwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

This year, Glenview has only three contested races—, the Park District Commission Board and District 207 School Board. Citizens will choose between Yasmeen Bilimoria, , , and John Smith for four seats on the school board. Park District candidates include , , David May and vying for two spots. And finally, Donna Pellar, Joann Braam, Sean Sullivan, Eric Poders and Marijo Bustos will compete for three seats in the April 5 election. Also on the ballot, a District 31 referendum may mean $2.2 million more in taxes for local residents. Catch up on the controversy here.

Glenview citizens who were unable to take advantage of early voting but don't want to wait until Tuesday’s election to make their choice can still mark their ballot as part of the clerk’s in-person absentee program, explained Greve. 

People have until 5 p.m. today, between 9 a.m. and noon Saturday and between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday at the clerk’s branch office of the Skokie Courthouse, 5600 West Old Orchard Rd., Greve added. 

Like early voting, people casting in-person absentee ballots must present election officials with "valid identification" before receiving a ballot. According to the clerk's office, valid forms of ID include a current driver's license, state-issued ID card or another government-issued ID with a photograph. 

"Cross the country that trend is continuing: people are moving toward automatic absentee voting," Orr said. “For me what’s important is that 2011 is a less competitive race than 2009, which had more candidates, and even so voting is up." 

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