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“I think the voting process was fantastic, especially the early voting. It gave the seniors the opportunity to go out and it was not just a one-day thing that they all got to rush out and find a ride. They had a window of opportunity and span of time to get out and vote. So that is what I think. It was fantastic for the early voting and also, yes my candidates won and I had no problem in voting. I did the early voting at the Westside Learning Center.”

PEARLIE TYLER
“Oh no, I had no problems voting. I used the touch-screen and I liked that very much. And my candidates did win, so overall I was satisfied.”

Cherese Thomas
“It was pretty much what I expected it to be. Actually, I worked during the election. I was an election judge in Westchester, Precinct 6. It was pretty much what was expected for a primary. The only thing: a lot of people were confused about the primary and the general election that is coming up. And, having to state what party you were going to go with because they didn’t have an option. We explained when the general comes then you can go across parties. So that was like the biggest deal, people having to declare a party. In our precinct we didn’t have a lot of early voting. The disappointing thing was the low turnout. We calculate that we should have had somewhere close to 700 voters and the total turnout was about 200. That was just in that one precinct: 6. So across the board we were thinking it was like a possible 20 percent that turned out. A lot of people still feel that their vote didn’t count. A lot of people forget and we still need to be pushing people to get them registered to vote and get them to understand that your vote stands for everything. Because if you don’t vote you can’t complain about anything as far as where your money is going, how the money is allocated for schools, for seniors, for anything because the money is coming from the government. If you don’t express your voice there is no way for anybody to know.”

William “Bill” Dale
“There is still a lot of straightening out to done on the election. I personally went to two showings and voting demonstrations, so I didn’t have much trouble. I voted early on the touch screen. But I could see with the long ballot confusion with the people marking the ballot. I worked with the senior citizens. I figured they were going to have a lot of problems. I was a poll watcher for (state Rep.) Connie Howard (32nd). If you want to say my candidate then year, she won. I also noticed that the judges were unaware of some of the things that should have happen.”

Dr. Tanneia McCraney
“I think the election went fine. I didn’t have any problems voting at all. I did the paper vote. I didn’t do the touch-screen because there was a line. I didn’t have any problems personally, but I know people who did. The paper ballot was not feeding correctly into the machines. By the time I went around 5 p.m. the problems were solved. Did my candidates win? I don’t know. When I watched the news they were still counting. I’m not sure exactly who won yet.”

Commissioner Barbara McGowan
“I realize that there was some confusion. As a matter of fact, as of this date (March 24), we’re still waiting on some results from some of the races that we had. I also understand that there were new machines in place and I guess we just need to have a little patience with this election, because we’re so use to getting things done quick, quick, fast, fast. I didn’t have any problems voting. I’m one of those persons who voted early, so there were no problems at all. My candidates did win. I supported President John Stroger for the Cook County Board presidency, and I’m very glad to be one of those people who did support him. Not just by word of mouth, but also by getting out there working.”