Where are all the voters ?? (Chicago, Schaumburg: live in, office, station)

[williepotatoes]

I've never seen so few voters in a polling place at 4:30 PM. The precinct workers out here in Schaumburg say this may be the lightest vote they have ever experienced. And it is apparently statewide, because I'm reading reports of 20%-25% turnout in Will, Grundy, and Kane counties. In fact Kane county says they may not hit 20% !!!!

What happened to all the outrage?? I was led to believe that this was gonna be a peasants revolution type election. Throw all the bums out they cried !!!

Was it just the usual media hype ???

[Irishtom29]

Many people would rather cry than do something.

Then you have the people who don't vote because they don't like the choices. So rather than at least accomplishing the throwing out of one guy they accomplish nothing. Real clever.

[j33]

When I voted this morning before I went to work, I was the only voter in the polling place. Pathetic.

[coldwine]

Originally Posted by Irishtom29

Many people would rather cry than do something.

Then you have the people who don't vote because they don't like the choices. So rather than at least accomplishing the throwing out of one guy they accomplish nothing. Real clever.

I think the greater problem is that there is no unified coalition on which to vote. There's no organized group of spendthrift politicians. There are no people crying out against spending.

And frankly, how would we go about getting rid of people and cleaning house? I sure as hell don't know how to do it.

[Irishtom29]

Originally Posted by coldwine

And frankly, how would we go about getting rid of people and cleaning house? I sure as hell don't know how to do it.

I'm not sure we can. I don't expect anything from politics but a clash of competing interests that usually keeps the pendulum swinging and solves the worst problems once in awhile. Muddling through.

[coldwine]

Originally Posted by Irishtom29

I'm not sure we can. I don't expect anything from politics but a clash of competing interests that usually keeps the pendulum swinging and solves the worst problems once in awhile. Muddling through.

Then let's vote Despotic Tyrant for this next election.

[surlycue]

Originally Posted by j33

When I voted this morning before I went to work, I was the only voter in the polling place. Pathetic.

I went at 10am today and was the first voter they'd had all morning. The weather wasn't even bad today so I can't imagine what people's excuses are aside from apathy.

[Attrill]

Definitely pathetic. With a turnout this low I could see Stroger winning, which I thought was impossible. At Noon today I was the only person voting at my polling station in the 1st Ward. They said I was the first person they'd seen in 30 or 40 minutes. Truly pathetic.

Originally Posted by coldwine

And frankly, how would we go about getting rid of people and cleaning house? I sure as hell don't know how to do it.

Get involved early. Work in the primaries, hell, run yourself. There are good people out there who are interested in running and they need encouragement and workers. I've worked to get 2 Alderman into office and hopefully after today there will be two other "reform" candidates that I've worked for and helped get into office. Politics is NOT a spectator sport. People ***** and moan, but very few people are willing to DO anything. It is a childish abdication of any responsibility.

[j33]

attrill - looking at the results coming in, it looks like Preckwinkle is the clear leader, so Stroger is all but out.

[stillife]

Interesting. I grew up in Chicago but live in NYC now. We also had the lowest turnout ever in our local primaries last fall. I've been voting for a long time and I've never seen anything like it. It's especially startling in comparison to the long lines in Nov. 2008.