‘Steady number’ of residents head to the polls in Geneva, St. Charles

Kane County election workers saw a busy Primary Election Day, as voters made themselves heard at polling places across Kane County today.

At Western Avenue Elementary School in Geneva, an election judge said that voters had steadily come in since the polling place opened at 7 a.m.

“We’ve had a couple peaks, but it’s been steady all day,” Kristie Marrow said. “It makes the time fly, the steady stream of people.”

Marrow was joined by her 17-year-old son Roy, who had heard about election judge opportunities through his history class.

“It looks great on resumes, since I’m applying to college soon,” he said. “This is the first break I’ve had since 7 a.m.”

“It was his idea,” his mother said.

Election judge Pam Cabeen said that Western Avenue Elementary School polling place serves residents from both Batavia and Geneva.

“It’s been nonstop all day,” she said. “It’s been great.”

Cabeen said that one resident stopped to pose for a photo after voting for the first time.

“I was happy to see people so excited,” she said.

Election judges at Baker Community Center in St. Charles said they were surprised by the high turnout.

“[It’s been] surprisingly good, especially since it’s a primary,” Cindy Leidig said.

Leidig had just finished helping a small line of voters. She said the busy moments are just as common as the lulls.

“It’s been on and off, off and on,” she said.

“We’ve had quite a few people turn out, which is great,” said Elizabeth Dooley, another election judge at Baker Community Center. “There was a rush in the morning when we opened.”

Kane County Clerk John Cunningham, who is running for reelection for the Republican nomination against challenger Douglas Warlick in the primary, said that it was good to hear about high turnouts.

“We encourage people to vote no matter who they vote for,” Cunningham said. “This election there aren’t that many [contested] races so you wouldn’t expect the turnout to be spectacular.”

Cunningham said early voting also saw higher numbers.

“I know our early voting was up 700 votes,” he said. “Our early voting and vote by mail has been very successful.”

There are over 300 voting precincts in Kane County, Cunningham said.

“It’ll pick up a thousand-fold in the last hour of the election,” he said. “People do have a tendency to waiting until the last minute.”