Ogle County sees record turnout

Posted

ROCHELLE – The 2020 General Election saw more than 145 million registered voters cast ballots for federal, state and local races across the United States.

In Ogle County, voters participated in record numbers this fall, with 82.65 percent of registered voters taking part.

Nearly 32,000 votes in Ogle County cast ballots in the 2020 election, with roughly 5,500 voters registered in Flagg (Rochelle) precincts participating this year. Rochelle’s feeder communities also heavily exercised their voting rights this fall, with 87 percent of registered Dement (Creston) precinct voters and 84 percent of White Rock (Kings) precinct voters casting ballots.

Ogle County Clerk and Recorder Laura J. Cook said she was excited to see the high voter turnout in the county. Cook said that several factors, including early voting, mail-in voting and the secure ballot drop-off box at the Ogle County Courthouse, led to a higher turnout this fall.

“The Nov. 3, 2020 General Election turnout was astounding in Ogle County,” Cooks said.” I was very glad to see the turnout was high with people participating in voting with the various options they had to choose from. It showed us that the people want to have their voices heard from during this ‘new normal’ due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We saw many first-time voters during early voting at the courthouse and in Rochelle. I believe the turnout was high due to how easy it was to vote early or obtain a vote-by-mail ballot. The ballot drop-off box at the courthouse worked out well for the voters who chose to deposit their ballots in a secure location. I hope voters will continue to participate in elections as much as they did in November.”

President Donald Trump received the majority of the support from Ogle County voters, with over 61 percent casting ballots for the Republican Party nominee while about 35 percent selected Democratic Party candidate Joe Biden.

Ogle County voters also showed overwhelming disapproval of the constitutional amendment proposal, also known as the Fair Tax amendment. Over 18,000 Ogle County voters (nearly 71 percent) sided against the proposed amendment. Illinois voters chose not to adopt the constitutional amendment, with 54.5 percent (2,846,380) voting against and 45.5 percent (2,372,219) voting for the proposal after 99 percent of precincts reported.

Nationally, Biden holds a 290-214 electoral vote lead over Trump in the presidential election, with Biden carrying 50.7 percent of the vote and Trump maintaining 47.6 percent. Final results won’t be expected for a while, as Trump has challenged results in several battleground states.

Democrats are expected to maintain control over the U.S. House of Representatives, while the fight for the U.S. Senate will likely be decided in Georgia, where two seats are expected to be chosen through run-off elections in January. Republicans, who currently control the U.S. Senate, are projected to win 50 seats in the 2020 election, while Democrats are projected for 48 seats. A 50-50 split in the U.S. Senate would mean the vice president casts any tiebreaking votes.