ELECTION '23: Mayoral radio forum today on WDWS; Champaign Co. closing 20 polling places

Deb Pressey, The News-Gazette, Champaign-Urbana, Ill.
·4 min read

Mar. 29—The three candidates for Champaign mayor — Deb Feinen, Don Gerard and Azark Cobbs — take part in a live radio forum on WDWS 1400-AM/93.9-FM. Text questions you'd like to ask them to moderators Brian Barnhart and Jeff D'Alessio at 217-351-5357.

***

URBANA — Champaign County will have 20 fewer polling places for the April 4 election because there aren't enough trained election judges to serve, according to county Clerk and Recorder Aaron Ammons.

In the weeks that have passed since Ammons announced this month that 100 more election judges would be needed for Election Day, he said 25 to 30 people stepped up and were trained.

With an election-judge gap remaining, he released a list Tuesday of 20 polling places that would be closed on Election Day.

"I can't continue to wait for those folks to come through, because then we wouldn't have any time to notify the public," he said.

Announcing closed polling places a week ahead of the election gives affected voters a chance to cast ballots at any of 11 early-voting sites that are open, Ammons said.

Featured Local Savings

It also leaves a bit of time for voters to request a vote-by-mail ballot, since the sign-up period for that doesn't close until midnight Thursday, he said.

For all polling places that will be closed, alternate locations have been listed for affected voters — though all eligible voters in Champaign County can vote at any polling place, both for early voting and on Election Day, Ammons said.

One reason there aren't enough election judges is likely due to the fact that municipal/consolidated elections like the one coming up don't generally get a lot of attention, Ammons said.

Another reason — one that isn't unique to Champaign County, he said — is that some election judges have begun feeling unsafe or uncomfortable at polling places.

"This is happening all over the country, having these shortages of election judges," he said.

Still another factor has been the shortage of Republican judges in Champaign County since he was elected county clerk, said Ammons, a Democrat.

Polling places must be staffed by both Democratic and Republican election judges, and Ammons said earlier this month that the need was especially great in Champaign County for more Republican judges.

Given that even more election judges will be needed for the 2024 presidential election year, Ammons said the county could be in the same situation next year if more don't come forward.

"At some point, we have to understand how fragile our form of government is when we don't get the support and buy-in from the people," he said.

Following are the 20 polling places to be closed on Election Day and where they have been reassigned:

* Bible Baptist Church, 4001 W. Kirby Ave., C, reassigned to Carpenters Local 243, 402 S. Duncan Road, C.

* Curtis Road Church of God, 2604 Curtis Road, C, reassigned to First Christian Church, 3601 S. Staley Road, C.

* Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 149, 1003 N. Dunlap Ave., Savoy, reassigned to Savoy Recreation Center, 402 Graham Drive.

* River Valley Church of Christ, 17 Owlcreek Lane, Fisher, reassigned to Fisher Community Building, 100 E. School St.

* Rantoul Youth Center, 1306 Country Club Lane, reassigned to Rantoul First United Methodist Church, 200 S. Century Blvd.

* Sadorus Village Hall, 115 E. Market St., Sadorus, reassigned to Ivesdale Fire Protection District, 406 Third St. Ivesdale.

* Living Word Family Church, 1000 Park Ave., St. Joseph, reassigned to Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, 802 E. Douglas St., St. Joseph.

* Illini Hillel, 503 E. John St., C, reassigned to the University of Illinois Activities and Recreation Center, 201 E. Peabody Drive, C.

* Seibel Center for Design, 1208 S. Fourth St., C, reassigned to UI ARC.

* Florida Avenue Residence Hall, 901 W. College Court, U, reassigned to Twin City Bible Church, 806 W. Michigan Ave., U.

* Illinois Street Residence Hall, 1010 W. Illinois St., U, reassigned to Illini Union, 1401 W. Green St., U.

* Unit 4 Mellon Administration Building, 703 S. New St., C, reassigned to Holy Cross Catholic Church, 405 W. Clark St., C.

* Pennsylvania Avenue Baptist Church, 600 E. Pennsylvania Ave., U, reassigned to Twin City Bible Church, Urbana.

* Philo Road Church of Christ, 2601 Philo Road, U, reassigned to St. Matthew Lutheran Church, 2200 Philo Road, U.

* Mattis Avenue Free Methodist Church, 1913 S. Mattis Ave., C, reassigned to Windsor Road Christian Church, 2501 Windsor Road, C.

* Champaign Park District Bresnan Meeting Center, 706 Kenwood Road, C, reassigned to Leonhard Recreation Center, 2307 Sangamon Drive, C.

* Vineyard Church, 1500 N. Lincoln Ave., U, reassigned to Mt. Olive Missionary Baptist Church, 808 E. Bradley Ave., C.

* Douglass Center Annex, 804 N. Fifth St., C, reassigned to Church of the Living God, 312 E. Bradley Ave., C.

* Illinois workNet, 1307 N. Mattis Ave., C, reassigned to Parkland College, 2400 W. Bradley Ave., C.

* Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District administrative center, 1101 E. University Ave., U, reassigned to Brookens Administrative Center, 1776 E. Washington St., U.