The Morgan County consolidated election is Tuesday, and County Clerk Jill Waggener says there are few things voters in the area need to remember when they head to the polls.
Polling places will be open from 6 am to 7 pm. Waggener says her office will be closed to the public on election day so her staff can focus on being available to answer phones and assist any pooling places in the event an issue comes up. Waggener is reminding residents that a one precinct polling place has moved since the general election in November.
“The polling place that was at Turner Apartments is now located just south across Hoagland Street in The Crossing building which is a church. The building used to be the old Midland Farm and Home for those who may be unfamiliar with the Crossing name. They are very receptive and looking very forward to working with us and I believe it will be a good fit.”
Waggener also is reminding voters in Precincts 6 and 7 that they will again vote at the temporary location within the Jacksonville Community Center in Community Park near the soccer fields.
There are a number of write-in candidates in Morgan County this year in key races that include ward 2 in Jacksonville, and mayoral races in both the villages of South Jacksonville and Murrayville to name a few. Waggener says her office and election judges are ready for the possibility of increased write-in ballots over previous years.
“On election night the judges that will be working those precincts with write-ins, and there are many throughout the county, those judges will need to look at the reports that they run at the end of the night. They will need to verify write-ins on the paper ballots, and it will be their determination, not mine, whether they consider that write-in a valid write-in.
I will be looking at all of the write-in votes for the entire county on Thursday morning at 8:00 with a completely new set of judges in my office along with my election specialist and a representative from the Morgan County State’s Attorney’s Office just to verify that the numbers the judges gave me on election night are true.”
The County Clerk has 14 days by law following an election to certify the results. Waggener says with the number of write-in candidates in this election, it may take the majority of those 14 days before some races are fully certified.
She says early voting has been better than she anticipated with 95 vote by mail ballots requested and as of last week just over 200 Morgan County residents voted early. Those with questions concerning the Morgan County election can contact the Morgan County Clerk’s Office by calling 217-243-8581.
The polls are open from 6 am to 7 pm. Stay tuned to WEAI 107.1 FM on election night for updated coverage.