Election Day Marked By Low Voter Turnout

To the chagrin of candidates, polling judges and residents, Election Day 2011 will be noted for its low voter turnout.

Only 16.3 percent of registered voters cast a ballot in Orland Park, which historically leads the way in . That's about half a percentage point below the total number of ballots cast per registered voters in suburban Cook County.

Only 511, or about 10 percent, of all registered voters in Orland Hills turned out last Tuesday, though the village had no contested elections this year. Frank L. Schmidt and Brian D. O'Neill took seats on both the Orland Hills Village and Orland Hills Library boards. Their election ended the moment they filed paperwork in December.

Cook County Commissioner and Orland Park resident Elizabeth Gorman, who several local candidates, said Friday she wasn't surprised by the low turnout given the economy.

"I know I sent out the message but people just don't care," she said. "And I don't think it's that they don't care about the voting process; this recessionary period has people so disengaged with the process and (the turnout) reflected that. They're just trying to survive. They're in survival mode and they're not thinking about politics."

Orland Park Mayor Dan McLaughlin believes the low turnout accounted for closeness in the , especially between the two slates. Orland Park United was endorsed by McLaughlin, while Fiscal Voices for Orland had Gorman's backing.

"When you don’t have a lot of people casting ballots the race is going to be close," McLaughlin said. "That then leaves the question, what do we do to get more people out to vote?"

Last week Orland Park Public Library candidate Thomas Dubelbeis noted that it was an off-year without national or state figures. Village board candidate Rich Kelly called it "depressing."

Madelyn Flaherty, the campaign chair for village board candidate Thomas Cunningham, may have offered the best advice for residents who forget the inelastic relationship between government and economics.

"Politics is local,” she said Tuesday outside a polling station, “and if people feel they can really make a difference, they do it locally. If you’re gonna complain, you better get out there."

By state law, election results are not official until Tuesday, April 26, when the canvassing of all votes, including absentee, is completed. The Cook County Clerk's Office is expected to update the results today and one or two more times before certification. But it seems, barring different results in a recount, the people have spoken.