Turnout Steady for School Elections

Even before work got out and people voted on their way home, Chatham High School saw steady turnout in voters.

Just under 500 people voted in Chatham Township within the first 3.5 hours of voting. One poll worker predicted as many as 1,300 could vote by the time the polls close at 9 p.m.

The number is significant, .

It takes on further significance in the wake of a campaign by Education Counts to encourage residents to vote by mail in advance of Election Day. Education Counts Chair Nabil Mouline said the organization passed out 2,200 applications to vote by mail.

The high turn-out, if the trend continues to be so, could be due to the two additional questions in this year's election in addition to the base budget. The budget itself includes a tax levy increase of 2.6 percent: the first additional question, to enhance counseling staff, will increase the tax levy by another 0.44 percent; the second question, to add security staff, will increase the tax levy by an additional 0.42 percent.

The chart below illustrates the increases at 2.6, 3.04, 3.02 and 3.46 percents.