EDWARDSVILLE – While not at levels of the 2016 presidential election, voters in Madison County are coming out in force, Madison County Clerk Debbie Ming-Mendoza said late Tuesday afternoon.
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She said early voting was up 50 percent from the last mid-term elections in 2014. She said she expects today's numbers to exceed 50 percent, possibly even reaching more than 60 percent. For reference, the 2016 presidential election saw 70 percent of Madison County's voters come to the polls. Ming-Mendoza, who is currently up for reelection against Republican Steve Adler, said judges at polling places are reporting there is no lull in the voters coming into their local polling places.
When asked why voters seem to be coming out in force today, she said she was not sure what issues were making people do their civic and democratic duties, adding she was not taking any exit polls.
As for voting security, something extremely important to most Americans, Ming-Mendoza said Madison County utilizes only paper ballots and tabulation is done on machines in no way attached to any outer internet. She also said the federal Homeland Security Office is adding an extra bit of a “security blanket” to the process.
Those votes will not be tabulated until polls close at 7 p.m., she said, meaning people still have time to go to the polls and possibly even exceed the former rates seen during the 2016 presidential elections.
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