March 2012 Primary: Kendall County Referenda Results
What did voters say about the telephone surcharge increase and eliminating the auditor's and recorder's offices?
Without further ado, here's what Kendall County voters had to say about these three questions.
Kendall County Auditor
Shall the elected Office of Kendall County Auditor be eliminated effective Dec. 1, 2012? (A "yes" vote means the office goes.)
| Kendall County |
Aurora Election Commission |
||
| Precincts Reporting: | 83 of 83 | 3 of 3 | |
| Votes | Votes | Total | |
| Yes | 8,578 |
221 |
8,699 |
| No |
4,434 |
152 |
4,586 |
Kendall County Recorder
Shall the Office of Recorder of Kendall County be eliminated effective Dec. 1, 2012, and the functions and duties of that office contine to be performed by the Kendall County Clerk? (A "yes" vote means the office goes.)
| Kendall County |
Aurora Election Commission |
||
| Precincts Reporting: | 83 of 83 | 3 of 3 | |
| Votes | Votes | Total | |
| Yes | 9,546 |
282 |
9,828 |
| No |
3,609 |
97 |
3,706 |
KenCom Telephone Surcharge
Shall the County of Kendall impose an additional surcharge of up to $0.75 per mont per network connection to the existing $0.75 surcharge (total not to exceed $1.50 per month) which surcharge will be added to the monthly bill you receive for telephone or telecommunications charges, for the purpose of improving a 9-1-1 Emergency Telephone System?
| Kendall County |
Aurora Election Commission |
||
| Precincts Reporting: | 83 of 83 | 3 of 3 | |
| Votes | Votes | Total | |
| Yes | 4,181 |
90 |
4,271 |
| No | 9,223 | 301 | 9,524 |
JPits
10:27 pm on Wednesday, March 21, 2012
This has made it very clear that The People just didn't understand what they were voting for. Should I vote to elect an Auditor & a Recorder - well of course, yes! And so they/we did... And in the next box, should I votel vote to eliminate their positions in December? Uh... well... huh... Sounds good to me? So yes???
My goodness.
Way to go in confusing the voters, Kendall County.
This county is far too big to continue being small minded.
Really not pleased with this Auditor/Recorder vote result. It is just so... well... weird...
Kay
12:37 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
if you read anything before the vote it was PERFECTLY CLEAR (CRYSTAL) on exactly how to vote! I think it was explained ad nauseum on what "yes" meant.
Jane Enviere
12:52 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
Most people probably were not pouring over things before they voted. That's just reality. And while I do keep up on things, and I am a reasonably intelligent person, I had to read it several times to be sure that I was casting the appropriate vote. I don't think Janelle is off base here.
It was odd. No matter what your preferred outcome.
Jerry Bannister
5:27 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
Kay, it's hard to tell from just text, but I think you are indicating you saw too much from me, them or us on the Recorder referendum. It's hard to know in a campaign when too much is enough. It's especially hard when you are dealing with an "idea" rather than a traditional opponent. Even though all sides of an issue or candidacy are out talking to people, you can never talk to everyone in this size of race, county-wide in my case. So all sides plow on, doing all they can to inform the people, and of course hope our idea, candidate or our own campaign wins. I don't know how you voted, and it's not my business, but thank you for being an informed voter.
JPits
12:41 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
Oh I read it - and I knew that I wanted to vote for the auditor and the recorder TO BE ELECTED and to NOT eliminate their position.
Unfortunately, it was set up to be eliminated in the wording.
I believe that many did NOT read. It just doesn't make sense. Vote FOR the office then vote against it... Good plan for the designed outcome.
Kay
1:04 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
Most intelligent people read and understand what they are voting on before they vote-especially if it is very important to them.
Jane Enviere
1:17 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
I don't think people lack intelligence if they took a moment to pause and review what they were choosing and examine whether it made sense or not. Maybe they want to make sure that they were, what was it...CRYSTAL CLEAR about their choice. lol
I agree Janelle -- it was weird. But so many things around here are rather backward that it's almost be expected. ; )
Rennetta
8:24 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
I agree Kay. The offices were triggered by the release of the official census. For the voters of Kendall County to get a chance to "have their say" it had to be placed on the ballot.
As you undoubtedly are aware the wording of Public Questions are typically determined by attorneys, as was the case in these referenda. I believe the attorneys living and/or working in Kendall County have met the same educational standards as those in other vicinities.
It's my understanding that attorneys typically follow legal precedent when available. A few examples of referenda to keep offices from being split or to recombine them read like this: Shall the office of Recorder of Deeds in Jackson County be abolished...
Shall the Office of Recorder of Deeds of DeKalb County be eliminated...
Adams County / referendum to eliminate
Williamson County /referendum to eliminate
Tazewell County / referendum to eliminate
JPits
1:14 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
&&& Thanks Jane - Yes, I too am an educated voter. I knew exactly how I was going to vote on that issue specifically. And I still found it very strange.
JPits
1:18 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
In no way did it make sense for people to vote for 2 people for 2 different office THEN immediately elimate the offices they just voted for them for...
Seems like there must have been some kind of a disconnect.
Just weird.
JPits
2:46 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
Tea Party goals are to achieve a BETTER government maintained by the people by ensuring responsible elected officials. A smaller government is an obvious byproduct of that.
Achieving those goals should not be enduced or encouraged by a cloak and dagger agenda. As we saw with this ballot initiative.
The political buzz word of the century: Transparency
Kendall county is far too big of a county to be so small minded and short sighted. This was a very poor decision to even put on the ballot for the long term for a county that is so large.
Pat Stiles
6:01 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
It was worded to confuse people that is obvious. The proof is in the numbers. 4585 voters wanted to keep the elected auditor position. And 7717 voters voted for the guy running for the position. Same with recorder 3706 voters wanted to keep the position and the man got 7432 votes to win the position. Seems a little upside down doesn't it? There are over 3000 more votes in each category that voted to keep the position. Why would you vote to eliminate the position then vote for the guy running. Does not make sense.
Rennetta
8:36 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
Pat-Many strange things happen in the privacy of the polling booth. And there are still many people who are concerned that if they don't fill in an oval in each ballot section, the rest of their votes won't count.
Scott
9:01 pm on Thursday, March 22, 2012
@Jerry Bannister - Thank you for all that you did to expose the release of Social Security Numbers on the internet by the current clerk's office (I'm not blaming the clerk personally for the error, but it did happen under her watch). I'm still appalled that our county officials do not view this as a significant breach of privacy and have not made any attempt to notify those who were impacted. I'm also concerned that there are "wayback" websites that allow the retrieval of archived web pages. The mere removal of the information from the website may not have completely solved the problem. Those who were impacted should be contacted so they can take steps to protect themselves from identity theft. It's the right thing to do.
I'm sorry that the referendum vote went against you, but I hope you will consider running for County Clerk in two years.
Judy J.
9:12 am on Friday, March 23, 2012
Here's what I don't understand - why didn't anyone question the cost figures that were put out by the county board? It was so obviously inflated to scare the voters. Why didn't any reporters question that?