Post-election thoughts

Add comment April 8th, 2009

I want to congratulate the Winnebago County Clerk’s office and the Rockford Board of Elections for the smoothest election I’ve been involved with in my 29 plus years in Rockford.

They tabulated results quickly and made it easy for those of us who rely on results to write stories and editorials. In past elections, either one office or the other had some kind of glitch, but this year it was well done all the way.

Now to a couple of predictions I made. First, I thought voter turnout was only going to be 10 percent to 12 percent. I knew I was being overly pessimistic when the words left my mouth. Voter turnout was lower than the expected 45 percent to 50 percent. About 25 percent of registered voters cast a ballot yesterday.

Some have blamed apathy, but I wonder whether it’s because voters had a natural letdown after the historic November election.That election was barely over before candidates had to file for the February primary. The April general election seemed to arrive in no time.

My second prediction was that Larry Morrissey would be re-elected in a close race. I really missed on that one. I was probably unduly influenced by reading comments on our Web site, e-mail I get and some of my regular callers. Listening/reading to those folks, you would think that Morrissey would get nary a vote. It looks like I gave too much credit to the critics out there.

You always hear from people who have complaints. Very few people call if they think you’re doing something right. If you buy a product from a retailer and it works great, few folks would call or send a letter saying how wonderful the product is or how wonderful the service they received was. But, wow, if that product was flawed in any way, folks would let you know.

No more elections this year, but candidates will start circulating nominating petitions in August.