At Village Hall in River Forest Voters Say Yes to Obama, No to Home Rule

Romney supporters were noticeably absent from the polls in River Forest today at Precinct 5 located at Village Hall in River Forest.

Voter after voter who talked with us in the early afternoon said they were throwing their support behind the president, although, not all were doing so passionately.

According to election judges, by about 1 p.m., 50 percent of the precinct had voted. Many residents voted early, or via absentee ballots, but judges had seen a steady stream of traffic throughout the day.

"There was a line out the door when we opened this morning," said 58-year election judge Laurette Froelich.

Voter turnout had been about average for a presidential election, she said, but by mid-afternoon the polls had entered a bit of a lull.

"It will get busier after 3 p.m. again," Froelich said.

Judges seemed to be having a good time at the polls, joking with one another and enjoying free bagels.

"We had two new citizens cast their first votes and a couple of other first-time voters," said election judge Heidi Peterson. "That was pretty cool."

Voters largely said that they cast their ballot for President Barak Obama, but the reasoning for their vote varied widely. Some were enthusiastic supporters four years ago who said they thought he deserved another four years in office, while others said they just didn't like the alternative.

"I wasn't that passionate," said Obama voter Sean Toolan, 32, of River Forest. "But it came down to a consistency issue."

Toolan said his Obama vote was cast more as a vote against Romney, who he felt had not revealed enough details of what he would do if elected.

Ellen Tracy, of River Forest, said that she voted Republican consistently for 30 years before voting for Obama in 2008, and then again today at the polls.

"The Republican party is not the same party anymore," Tracy said of going Democrat. "The agenda [of the party] has been taken over. There's no room for moderates."

Some voters favored neither of the front-runners and cast their vote for a third party.

Bob Ayres, 23, said he cast his vote for Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson this year.

"I just didn't like the other options," he said simply.

The DePaul Law School student said he ultimately voted for Johnson because both Obama and Mitt Romney had voted in favor of the National Defense Reauthorization Act.

Home Rule Referendum

The majority of voters at Precinct 5 were vocally against a referendum on home rule in River Forest.

"It puts too much power in the hands of too few people," said one voter who asked not to be named in the story.

Other voters were largely concerned with property tax increases if the village became a home rule municipality.

"The property taxes [in River Forest] are already obscene," Tracy said of her vote against the referendum.