The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
By Holly Wilde-Tillman, Hancock County Clerk
Winston Churchill said,
“I am always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught.”
It feels as though every day I must learn something new and I am not always a fan of it, but I do know when we learn we grow. I am, however, fascinated by fun facts and love to share what I learn. So here are some fun facts that I think you can grow from.
We had 2,843 votes cast in Hancock County out of 11, 517 registered voters, that is 24.69% turnout.
We had 182 Early voters in the Election office prior to Election Day.
We mailed out 425 permanent vote by mail ballots of which 257 were returned.
We also mailed out 42 vote by mail ballots of which 35 were returned. It costs $0.96 to mail a ballot to a voter.
There were 2,351 republican and 450 democrat ballots cast in our County.
Because we had 1% sales tax question, voters had the opportunity to cast a non-partisan ballot when they do not want to declare a party and there were 42 non-partisan ballots cast in the County.
The General Primary election cost the taxpayers of Hancock County around $71,0000, which is about $24.00 per ballot cast.
Had all registered voters cast a ballot it would have been $6.00 per registered voter.
This was the first election we used the DS200, and I think voters and judges all found them to be very similar to what we were using.
Each polling precinct is to have 5 judges, 3 Republican and 2 Democratic.
By rights we should have 165 judges stretched across the County in 33 precincts and I am happy to say most polling precincts were fully staffed. However, we had 15 spots that were vacant on Election Day.
We spend $23,100 to have our polling precincts staffed each election, this cost does not include what we pay for renting and delivering supplies for polling precincts and we are required by law to have a polling place in each township.
If you have any interest in sitting as an election judge, please reach out because Hancock County needs you.
The Election judges here in Hancock County deserve a standing ovation for what they do on Election Day, and we are lucky to have each one of them in our polling places. If you see them, please thank them for their service.
This election we were blessed by having Hancock County educators in our local high schools encourage students to get involved with the election process. Ten students from Hamilton, Warsaw and Illini West schools were in 10 polling places throughout the County. These students received a firsthand look on Election Day with qualified Election judges sharing their wisdom through the process.
The polls open at 6 a.m. but many judges are at the polling place by 5 a.m. to begin to prepare and be ready for the first voter.
Polling places close at 7 p.m. but the judges still have work to do before they can call it a day. Two judges, one from each party, return the election supplies to the courthouse and sometimes it can be a late night.
This recap only gives a few highlights but allows for a better understanding of the elections here in Hancock County. I encourage anyone who has questions to please give me a call or stop by my office for a visit.