It's primary election day: Some election judges dropping out

Some election judges in Perry County have taken themselves out of working the Illinois primary on Tuesday out of a fear of the coronavirus, but Perry County Clerk Beth Lipe says so far she has enough judges to keep every precinct open.

"They are starting to drop out, but we're holding our own," Lipe said Monday morning.

Those judges will be armed with plenty of hand sanitizer and hand-wipes, Lipe says, that she and her staff went shopping for about a week and a half ago.

Three judges are the preferred number in each precinct, Lipe says, but a precinct can still operate with two.

"If we drop down to one judge, state law requires us to combine polling places," she said. Perry County has 27 precincts.

If that happens, Lipe said her office will do its best to alert voters, through the Du Quoin Call Facebook page and other Facebook pages, as well as local radio stations, and a sign on the door of the changed polling place.

"A lot of my judges are retired and I worry about them," said Lipe, referring to the fact that older people are more susceptible to the coronavirus.

"I don't want anybody to come away with this virus."

She said the judges who are coming in to pick up their election supplies are cheerful, and many of them say they'll bring their own hand sanitizer with them.

Polls are open Tuesday from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Perry County voters may take a Republican ballot, a Democratic ballot or a nonpartisan ballot. The nonpartisan ballot allows people to vote only on the Perry County safety tax referendum, and nothing else.

As of Monday morning, three of those 27 precincts are down to two judges apiece, Lipe says. She has a list of reserve judges she has been calling to fill holes.

Meanwhile, the installation of touch-screen voting machines is just about completed, she said.

Early turnout in Perry County has been low so far, Lipe said. An early voter event in Du Quoin City Hall last Tuesday brought out only 59 voters; and so far the clerk has received 150 mail-in ballots, which is low, even for a primary, Lipe added.

And there hasn't been nearly the interest in the nonpartisan ballot that Lipe expected.

Lipe doesn't think there will be delays for in-person voters, even in precincts that have two judges.

Her judges, she says, are veterans who "are good at their jobs."

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Election results

Keep up with primary election results Tuesday night at www.duquoin.com and the Du Quoin Call Facebook page.