Election 2011: More to Come

12:14 a.m.
OK, folks. That's going to do it for today. We'll be back tomorrow with more stories from the contested races, and we'll try and get comment from the candidates in the uncontested races, too. 

Meanwhile, here's one more look at the latest results in the contested races. They're taken from the Cook County Clerk's Office Election 2011 results website. 

12:02 a.m.
And another one....

11:21 p.m.
Just posted two stories: 

10:09 p.m.
All over but the shoutin' in many of these races. Still waiting for final results. Stay tuned for much more.... 

9:54 p.m.
The announcement? Johnson said all of the newly elected candidates in today's Oak Park elections will meet Saturday. It's an effort to find ways to better work together.  

9:37 p.m.
(Via reporter Deb Kadin) Trustee Ray Johnson says they've got an important announcement to make over at the results party at the Carleton...

8:43 p.m.
Curious to see the ? Spoiler alert: all of the candidates won.

8:25 p.m.
Intrepid Patch reporter Deb Kadin is staking out the Citizens for Accountable Leadership party — Ray Johnson, Robert Tucker and Adam Salzman — at the Carleton of Oak Park Hotel.

"Lots of food, lots of drink" in the hotel ballroom, she said.

But still no candidate appearances.

Kadin said they're holed up, upstairs in a hotel suite. 

8:07 p.m.
....just want to point out that the links below are being constantly updated to reflect the latest results.

7:36 p.m.
The totals are rolling in. Here's a quick, early look at some the contested races. More on the way!

7:05 p.m.
The polls have officially closed. 

While we're all waiting for the results to come in, just wanted to share an anecdote. I ran into Laura Haussmann outside the Gwendolyn Brooks Middle School polling place earlier this evening. Hausmann, who serves on Oak Park's Environmental and Energy Commission, was with her 7-month-old daughter, Lily. 

What motivated her to come out and vote? 

"Both referendums," she said. 

She's talking about the ballot questions up for a vote in Oak Park: The , which promises cleaner energy sources and potentially cheaper bills, and the District 97 referendum that, if approved, would raise property taxes to help salvage school programs, teacher jobs and other operations.

For her, the CCA program, is a "no-brainer," though she's "not sure how many people are aware of it." 

And the District 97 referendum? 

"That's a little grayer." 

I suspect it's the same for lots of Oak Parkers.....

5:37 p.m.
Time for some election fun facts.

First, a tidbit: At least one polling place in Oak Park ran out of roughly 75 "I Voted" stickers around 7 a.m. Tuesday, an hour after polls officially opened. 

"Very few places have that type of turnout," said Cook County Clerk's Office spokeswoman Courtney Greve.

Now, onto the shenanigans. Sort of.

Election judges, residents and candidates in Oak Park called the clerk's office about 50 times (so far) Tuesday with comments and complaints about the election process. County election officials said most of the calls were routine and involved either reminding election judges of certain procedures or explaining technical details about voting machines.

There were, however, a few calls regarding electioneering, officials said.

One candidate — it's unclear at this point who it was — complained that campaign signs were removed from outside the Another caller complained about campaign signs being too close to the polling place at . 

Over in River Forest, it was a little more tame.

At around 4 p.m., just five calls had been placed to election officials. One involved replacing a faulty at the polling place at ; another involved an antsy voter who showed up just a few minutes early at a polling place and was locked out. (The precinct opened on time.)

4:21 p.m.
Love it. On one side of a hallway on the second floor of the River Forest Community Center, a little kid's dance class. On the other side, two separate rooms filled with voting booths. 

Outside the Madison Street facility, River Forest parent Jenny Luebbe was heading to the polls.  She said her children will soon be attending , so the District 200 board race is of particular importance. 

"I'm getting my feet wet by starting to pay attention," she said. 

3:35 p.m.
Headed out to River Forest polling places...

3:26 p.m.
Just saw this tweet from , who's running for a spot on the River Forest Public  Library Board: 

I #voted, and for the first time ever, that included voting for myself.

2:47 p.m. 

Welcome to the Oak Park-River Forest Patch Election Blog. It's an experiment of sorts, but it's one we're hoping will be helpful and informative.

We'll be visiting a few polling places and talking with folks who are exercising their right to vote. Nearly 1,100 voters — 1,091 to be exact — turned out at Oak Park Village Hall for early voting, according to Cook County Clerk's Office stats. 

The April 2011 numbers early voting totals smashed previous consolidated election turnouts in Oak Park. In April 2007, 296 people voted early. In April 2009, 392 voted early.

If you haven't cast your ballot yet, please visit our , packed with candidate profiles and questionnaires from all of the local races, even the uncontested ones. 

Unsure where to vote? Click here for our handy precinct map. 

As for tonight's results, we'll be glued to this page on the Cook County Clerk David Orr's website. The polls close at 7 p.m. and results typically start pouring in around 8 p.m.

Meanwhile, if you hear of any shenanigans, spot something interesting happening around town or simply would like to have us answer your election-related questions, drop a line in the comments section, call me at (708) 548-5295 or email me at casey@patch.com

Thanks.