Historical Election Turnouts in Morgan County

By Gary Scott on April 2, 2019 at 10:24am

Voter apathy is one of the main reasons turnout in today’s election in Morgan County will be down.
It’s ironic, because the candidates who are elected today probably have as much impact on local tax rates as any state or federal candidate. But, it’s still not enough to get people to the polls.
Fifty 4 percent of the voters in Morgan County turned out in November last year for the general election. And, those rates climb higher with presidential elections. But, the off year elections are not a great draw.
The turnout was near 26-percent in 2013, when voters had a handful of races on the city council, and a village board president race in South Jacksonville.
It was a nearly 12 and a third-percent turnout in 2012 when there was a school board race in district 117.
And, it was a 26-percent turnout in 2009 when voters in the Jacksonville school district decided if board members should continue to be elected at large.
A best guess without checking the polls today would probably put that turnout in Morgan County today somewhere between 25 and 15 percent. And, that might be optimistic.
The polls close at 7 tonight. Our coverage of the results will start at 7:30, and we will continue on the half hour until all the results are in. We are covering races in Morgan, Scott, Greene and Cass counties on WEAI. We will also post results on the website.