Jacob DeGeal
McLean County and City of Bloomington election officials said Monday they have received more than 42,457 ballots through early voting and vote by mail. That is about 37.7% of the roughly 112,600 registered voters in the county, even before polls open Tuesday morning. Just 10 days ago, the votes cast figure was closer to 20%.
Both election jurisdictions have data showing strong vote-by-mail returns.
The McLean County Clerk’s office website showed 10,912 vote-by-mail ballots have been received to date, out of 15,841 applications for a mail-in ballot. A total of 11,300 residents of the county have voted early.
Bloomington Election Commission Executive Director Tim Mitchell said 10,245 city voters returned mail-in ballots as of Friday, out of 15,693 sent out.
Ryan Denham / WGLT
Consolidated local elections typically produce a lower voter turnout than even-year elections like presidential cycles. Normally, only about 20% of registered voters cast ballots.
For Tuesday’s election, the Bloomington Election Commission and the McLean County Clerk’s office project turnout could run a little higher, possibly between 25-30%.
Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
Bloomington Election Commission
What are the reasons? BEC Executive Director Tim Mitchell said he thinks there is some carryover from the divisive November election.
“In Georgia this past week, they passed a new law to impact voters down there, which has made national headlines,” said Mitchell. “The whole concept of voting is still in the forefront of people’s minds.”
Watch now: Early voting in the April 6 election starts Thursday in McLean County herald-review.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from herald-review.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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Two candidates have withdrawn their candidacies for Unit 5 school board, following a challenge to their petitions.
According to the McLean County Clerk’s Office, Elise Albers and Mollie Emery both dropped out of the race, leaving six candidates to vie for three open seats in the spring.
Thursday was the deadline for candidates to withdraw from the April 6 school board elections in Illinois.
According to the clerk’s office, Roberto Garcia of Bloomington challenged their petitions, but the candidates withdrew before a hearing was held.
The clerk s office said the two candidates did not give a reason for why they were withdrawing.