Election

A quiet day Tuesday at the Will County polls

The summer election may have “thrown” voters

Election 2024

Joliet — Tuesday was a light day at the Will County polls for the primary election.

Charles B. Pelkie, chief of staff for Will County Clerk Lauren Staley Ferry, said at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday that voter turnout on Election Day was at just 7% of the registered voters. That increased by 12.8% of the registered voters at 7 p.m.

“It’s a summer election,” Pelkie said, “so that’s thrown a lot of voters.”

However, nearly 21,000 people had voted by Tuesday morning through early voting and vote-by-mail.

Barry McCue of Joliet, an election judge at Cantigny Post 367 VFW, said around noon that voter turnout “wasn’t bad” and “nice and steady,” considering Tuesday was a primary election and not a presidential election.

“It could have been a lot worse,” McCue said.

McCue, who said he’s served as an election judge since “the Obama election,” also praised Will County on how it conducts elections, from the user friendliness of the poll books, the ease of using the actual voting machines and technical support when needed.

“We had some problems here this morning and they were here in 10 to 15 minutes giving us support,” McCue said.