Lake County News-Sun |

Turnout a wild card entering Tuesday’s rare summer primary; ‘Some people may be confused’

Voters will choose major party nominees for six statewide offices, the United States Congress, the Illinois Supreme Court, Illinois Appellate Court, Lake County sheriff, dozens of other offices and three referendums in a rare summer primary election Tuesday.

Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday at scores of polling places around Lake County in a primary election scheduled in June because of a delay receiving results from the 2020 census.

If early voting and vote by mail balloting is any indication, Lake County Clerk Robin O’Connor said the number of people casting ballots Tuesday will be similar to those who voted in the 2018 off-year election, yet the June date may impact how many people come to the polls.

“Voters are not used to having a summer election, so that could affect the number of people voting,” O’Connor said. “Some people may be confused. I hope we have a turnout of 100,000. It will be a nice day for voting.”

Since early voting began May 19, O’Conner said as of Monday afternoon 17,607 early votes were cast and 7,644 vote by mail ballots were received out of 12,658 issued. In 2018, 19,910 people voted before Election Day and 7,369 by mail.

In the last four years, O’Connor said the number of registered voters in Lake County grew 10.1% from 439,860 to 489,514. If people are uncertain of their polling place, she said they should check the clerk’s website or the card sent to all voters before voting began.

Both Lake County Democratic Chair Lauren Beth Gash and Mark Shaw, the Lake County Republican chair, believe voters will be motivated this year, but not for the same reasons. Shaw said GOP voters will be concerned with economic issues while Gash believes social issues will have an impact as well.

“Democrats are excited about voting,” Gash said. “They are going to be motivated by decisions being made by right-wing extremists in Congress and the radical (United States) Supreme Court.”

Shaw too believes voters will are excited but he said their decisions will be made by the state of the economy, particularly inflation, though there are also social issues which trouble them.

“Gas prices are changing every day,” Shaw said. “They’re reminded of the price of gas every time they drive down the street. Some parents feel shut out from decision-making about their children’s education.”

A key race will be for an open seat on the Illinois Supreme Court, where three Democrats and four Republicans are seeking their party’s nomination. The winner in the Nov. 8 general election could determine which party has a majority on the court.

Both Republicans and Democrats have a choice to make for sheriff.

With all 19 seats on the Lake County Board up for election in the fall, there are eight contested Democratic primaries and three on the Republican side.