About 7.5 percent of Kendall County registered voters turned out during the first nine days of early voting in Kendall County, leading up to the Nov. 7 general election.
The ballot contains 14 state amendments and lacks any city, county or school district races, a factor contributing to the low or slow turnout.
Through November 2, early voting totaled 2,783, or 7.49 percent of the county’s 37,207 registered voters. The total does not include Friday’s final day of voting.
Staci Decker, Kendall County elections administrator, said turnout is “right on target” for what is expected for a ballot with nothing but state propositions.
“It really is on target for what we are used to. Honestly, our turnout is good, Kendall County has a history of good voting turnout,” she said.
“I would love to see us hit the 15 percent mark” combining early voting with the Election Day turnout, she added.
The early-vote high vote total occurred Thursday, November 2, when 436 voters turned out to the early voting site at the Kendall County Commission Annex on Fawn Valley Road. But Friday’s final day of voting, Decker said, showed consistent turnout and will likely top the previous day’s high total.
Among issues drawing people to the polls is Proposition 4, which implements the historic property tax cuts approved by the Legislature in July.
If approved, it will allow the state to spend more than $12 billion from the general revenue fund; about $5.6 billion would increase homeowners’ homestead exemptions from $40,000 to $100,000, and supplement school district a total of $7 billion so they can lower their tax rates.
Proposition 9 ranks high for voter interests, providing the first cost-of-living adjustment for retired teachers in almost 20 years. Subsidized by a $3.5 billion fund, Prop 9’s passage would give a 6 percent increase to teachers who retired before Aug. 31, 2001, 4 percent for retirees between 20012013, and 2 percent for retirees between 2013-2020.
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