super tuesday - News, Photos and More on the Windy Citizen

Obama supporters waited patiently in the Hyatt Grand Ballroom for hours. Obama's party started at 6 p.m., but the host didn't appear until well after 10 p.m.

Volunteers on stage behind the podium scrambled to show just how much they believe in change. Spirits were high as Senator Obama claimed victory in his home state Tuesday night.

Pam Johnson, a Chicago-based volunteer for the Obama campaign, reacts to the senator's victories in important primaries.

Michelle Obama brought energy and Nancy-Reagan-Red to the stage as Barack addressed a crowd of supporters in Chicago Tuesday night.

Volunteers amused themselves with songs, chants and tons of digital snapshots to memorialize the evening.

Obama smiles as he greets the anxious crowd gathered at the Hyatt to help him celebrate a mixed win on Tuesday night. The telegenic senator's smile was bright, but his exhaustion was obvious.

Jerry and Anita Jenkins stand together in the crowd of supporters for Obama late on Super Tuesday.

Senator Barack Obama and wife Michelle leave the stage after his speech on Super Tuesday, but spent another 15 minutes greeting supporters and posing for photographs. The couple smiled and stood closely after a draining political week.

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Permalink: http://www.methodsreporter.com/2008/02/07/scenes-of-obama-rama/

Chicago polling sites reported several minor machine errors Tuesday during voting hours, but the day was relatively free of the major problems that have plagued previous Illinois elections.

City officials had maintained the electronic voting machine kinks that marred elections in 2006 would not be a problem this year, thanks to better backup systems, repeated system tests and more experienced judges, said Chicago Board of Elections spokesman Jim Allen.

Voters entering the polling place had the option of two separate mechanisms: an ATM-like touch screen machine, and an optical scan machine in which voters drew a line next to their pick before placing the paper ballot in a scanner.

In one 50th Ward polling place, the U Lucky Dawg restaurant on Western Ave., a defective scanner machine needed to be replaced, so for a few hours North Side voters were forced to use touch screens.

"It's why every technician has an extra machine," said ward service technician Adam Cannon, who hauled in the replacement scanner a few hours after the error was reported. "It was pretty simple and probably happening quite a bit today."

Later Cannon delivered activator cards missing from the equipment package delivered to a Northwest Side precinct on West Peterson -- cards needed just to start up the touch screen machine. After that, he headed to another precinct to restock the pens used for the optiscan machine. "A lot of voters were walking off with the pens," Cannon said.

According to an assortment of election judges, the majority of city voters chose to use the optiscans. In a 1st Ward precinct in Ukrainian Village, about 150 voters had used the optiscan and only three used the touch screen by midafternoon.

When the polls closed at 7 p.m., election judges moved to collect memory cards in each machine. The memory cards compiled the vote totals throughout the day.

Judges placed each cartridge, one by one, in another machine that consolidated precinct totals and then electronically transmitted the results to a central computer at the board of elections office on Washington Street, Allen said.

If the transmission step doesn't work, memory cards are brought directly to a predetermined local high school where backup machines can send the totals. If that still doesn't work, judges bring the cards directly downtown.

In the November 2000 general election before Chicago went electronic, over 120,000 Illinois punch card ballots failed to register a vote for president, more votes unaccounted for than the number caught in Florida chad limbo. But even if all those votes were cast for George W. Bush, the state's 21 electoral votes still would have been deposited in the Al Gore bank.

But problems continued when Illinois switched to a fully electronic system in 2006. In the March primaries and November elections, there were widespread reports of paper jams in the optiscans, long delays in counting and missing memory cards in Cook and DuPage counties.

"I feel like I have to learn something new every year, and I don't want to mess something up," said election judge Nancy Thomas at her Ukrainian Village post, who has been working elections since the 1970s. "We used to feel beat up at the end of the day, but now it's just brain-wracking."

A panel led by former U.S. Circuit Court Judge Abner Mikva -- and filled with local techies -- found the 2006 system failures were due to a blip in the connection between the transmitters at the local polling sites and the receivers tallying the votes.

The Democrat had high disapproval ratings; the Republican was hamstrung by a predecessor's corruption indictment.

The beneficiary in the 2006 race for Illinois governor was Green Party candidate Rich Whitney, who grabbed 10 percent of the popular vote. He made the Greens the first new "established" Illinois political party in decades.

For now, the Greens must only collect as many petition signatures as Republicans and Democrats to earn spots on November ballots. (That figure varies by the number of voters in the previous general election.)

Political establishment status is granted in Illinois whenever a political party earns at least 5 percent of the popular vote in a general election. The Green Party will be established until at least 2010, but staying on the ballot may not be easy.

Still, the party held the first-ever Illinois Green Party primary on Tuesday in precincts throughout the state.

"The election authorities are not exactly advertising that there is a Green ballot," said state party spokesman Patrick Kelly, who criticized mainstream media for skirting Green Party coverage. The state's three major newspapers did not endorse a Green Party candidate for president, even though four contenders appeared on Tuesday's ballot.

"It's gotten a little better in terms of getting mentioned, but we're still not getting a lot of focus," Kelly said.

Kelly would not disclose the party's membership numbers in Illinois, but said it has doubled in size since 2006.

Most of the 32 Green candidates ran uncontested for seats in the U.S. Congress and Illinois House, county offices throughout the state and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago.

Regardless, broader exposure at the polls likely won't be enough for Greens to gain a foot in the state's historically entrenched two-party system, said political science professor John Allen Williams of Loyola University Chicago.

"You look through the whole of American history and it's always been two party," Williams said, citing both structural and behavior limitations in Illinois elections. "We're hard-wired to vote for one or the other."

A third party's success is often its downfall as its broad appeal encourages established parties to adopt some of their distinctive platforms. Staple issues for the Greens like environmental sustainability have become focal points in both Democratic and Republican campaigns recently.

"Any issue that is popular enough to arouse popular interest is popular enough to be co-opted by another party," Williams said. "In general, I wouldn't hope for much with any third party."

Since Adlai Stevenson III's Solidarity Party lost its bid for governor in 1986, there has not been a three-party race in Illinois. Stevenson III left the Democratic Party to distance himself from political extremists aligned with Lyndon LaRouche, who surprised the party and won the Democratic nominations for lieutenant governor and secretary of state.

Though they have failed to make inroads in American politics, third parties have become catalysts for social change, said Alan Gitelson, also a Loyola political science professor. He said third parties like Eugene Deb's Socialist Party were instrumental in promoting workers' rights and Social Security benefits in the early 20th century.

According to Gitelson, more than 900 third parties have tried to enter U.S. politics, each lasting anywhere from six months to decades. "In Illinois, the chances of getting elected are slim," Gitelson said.

Only eight state senate seats and 24 of 119 house seats had contested primaries in Tuesday's election.

But the scant competition camouflaged the underlying struggle within the Illinois Democratic Party between Gov. Rod Blagojevich and House Speaker Michael Madigan.

Candidates with the backing and blessing of Blagojevich and Senate President Emil Jones clashed with some of Madigan’s chief supporters, especially in predominantly black or Hispanic wards on the West and South Sides of Chicago.

In the South Side 10th House District, incumbent Annazette Collins, a Madigan ally, faced Chicago police Sgt. Eddie Winters, who has ties to Jones. Collins set the pattern of Madigan-backed winners, as she carried 64 percent of the vote, with 98 of 111 precincts reporting.

Chicago area Reps. Art Turner in the 9th District, Monique Davis in the 27th District and Deborah Graham in the 78th District were other Madigan allies who successfully defended their seats against opponents with connections to Jones or Blagojevich.

The only incumbent Democrat in the House to lose their seat was South Side Rep. Elga Jeffries, who took a terrific beating in the 26th District. With 112 of 127 precincts reporting, Jeffries was lagging in fourth place, barely garnering 12 percent of the vote in a five-way race. Will Burns, a former aide to Jones, was leading the race with 33 percent of the vote.

On the Senate side, establishment politics and independence clashed. But frontrunners and incumbents remained victorious.

In the 7th District on the North Side, the seat vacated by Sen. Carol Ronen (D-Chicago) became billed as a race between “establishment” candidate Heather Steans and grass roots progressive "reformer" Suzanne Elder.

Steans was endorsed by Ronen soon after Ronen announced her retirement. But that move irked some local online activists, who thought Ronen had tipped off Steans and given her an unfair advantage.

Ronen announced her retirement less than two weeks before the filing deadline for the primary election, forcing any interested candidate to scramble to collect 1,000 registered voters' signatures in order to be eligible.

Only Steans and Elder collected the necessary amount.

Steans, a public policy advocate who has managed budgets in the public and private sector, received the endorsements of mainline Democratic establishment organizations, including the Illinois AFL-CIO, the Illinois Planned Parenthood Council, the Equality Illinois Political Action Committee and the Sierra Club.

Elder, a policy and legislative advocate who has pushed for change in Springfield, received the endorsements of the Independent Voters of Illinois, Illinois National Organization for Women and Americans for Democratic Action.

With 150 of 168 precincts reporting, Steans was leading Elder, 64 percent to 36 percent.

Similarly, in the 5th District, Rickey Hendon (D-Chicago), a West Side politico and one of Jones' lieutenants in the Senate, defended his seat in a three-way race.

With 186 of 226 precincts reporting, Hendon led challenger Amy Sue Mertens 61 percent to 27 percent. Candidate Jonathan Bedi garnered 13 percent of the vote.

On the GOP side, incumbent Sen. Christine Radogno (R-Lemont), a socially moderate Republican, was able to survive a brokered three-way primary.

With 111 of 209 precincts reporting, Radogno won 72 percent of the vote, over challenger Greg Abbott's 20 percent and Brian Bartoz's 8 percent. Radogno had come under fire from more conservative elements in her party, who took issue with her stances on abortion and gay rights.

Radogno ran for state treasurer in 2006, losing to Democrat Alexi Giannoulias.

MEDILL NEWS SERVICE

Early polls Tuesday night showed prosecutor Anita Alvarez in the lead for Democratic nomination for the Cook County state’s attorney.

With 80 percent of the vote counted, Alvarez had 27.28 percent of it.

Ald. Tom Allen (38th) trailed slightly with 26.68 percent. County Commissioner Larry Suffredin followed with 25.59 percent, and Ald. Howard B. Brookings Jr. (21st) held fourth position with 10.74 percent.

Prosecutor Robert Milan and former defense attorney and FBI agent Tommy Brewer were well behind, polling in the single digits.

“We’re very happy,” said Mike Hernandez, Alvarez’s head of field operations, about 90 minutes after the polls closed. “This is the return we were expecting.”

After holding the position for the past 11 years, State’s Atty. Richard Devine chose not to run for re-election. This is the first time in 40 years with no incumbent on the ballot in the primary race for state’s attorney.

The state’s attorney is Cook County’s head prosecutor and manages more than 950 lawyers.

In a race that has been overshadowed by a contentious presidential campaign, candidates have tried to attract powerful endorsements in the hopes that voters will pay attention.
Barack Obama, who mave no endorsements, still figured prominently in the race, “Barack Obama is bringing out younger voters,’’ said Sufferdin.” My campaign had more appeal to them.”

Jesse Jackson Jr. endorsed Suffredin, while Jackson’s father Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr. threw his support behind Brookins.

Allen has the support of the fraternal Order of Police. Alvarez was backed by Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn, and Devine supported Milan, his second-in-command.

The Democratic nominee will face Republican Anthony Peraica in November.

An election judge was charged with battery Tuesday morning after punching another judge at a 42nd Ward West Loop polling place, according to Chicago police.

The female judges, whose party affiliations were not immediately known, were quarreling over "procedures" when one punched the other in the face, said Central District Capt. Joseph Vaclavik.

The judge who was punched, believed to be in her mid-50s, was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital for evaluation, Vaclavik said.

Chicago election officials Tuesday afternoon were trying to unravel the mystery of the incredible invisible ink.

It's no Agatha Christie novel but a real case for election investigators sent to the 49th Ward's 42nd precinct Tuesday morning, after 20 ballots were cast with "magic" invisible ink pens.

Election officials just smirked, shook their heads in disbelief and called it the most bizarre election snafu in recent memory.

Apparently, said city election board spokesman James Allen, the poll workers told incredulous voters—including one spouse of an election judge—that the stylus used for touch-screen voting was actually an inkless pen to fill out paper ballots.

"You spend months trying to prepare for every contingency," Allen said. "Trying to anticipate every possible way people might be confused . . . then this? Incredible."

Even the ballot scanning machine knew better, he said, rejecting all 20 ballots as blank.

Highlights from preliminary results of exit polling in the Super Tuesday primary states for The Associated Press and television networks:

RACE AND GENDER

In the Democratic races, Barack Obama led among black voters and Hillary Rodham Clinton led among Hispanic voters. Obama led among white men, while Clinton led among white women. Overall, Obama led among men and Clinton led among women, although her advantage among women appeared smaller than was seen in early primary states. In the Republican races, John McCain led among men. He had only a small lead over Romney among women.

CONSERVATIVES AND MODERATES

John McCain led among Republicans who call themselves moderates, while Romney led among Republicans who call themselves conservatives. McCain had a small lead among Republicans and a large advantage among independents voting in the Republican primaries.

DECISIONS, DECISIONS

About one in 10 voters in each party said they decided whom to vote for on Tuesday. Slightly more said they decided in the last three days. About half of Democratic primary voters and a third of Republicans said they made up their minds more than a month ago...

Nice to see them trying something new.

Photo: Peter Holderness

Did you brave the elements to cast your vote today in Chicagoland? Where'd you do it? How'd it go?