Taking into account early voting, voting by mail and polling places open Tuesday, the number of votes cast across Kane County was approaching 50,000 late Tuesday morning, county Clerk Jack Cunningham said.

“We’re averaging about 2,300 votes cast per hour so far today,” Cunningham said.

Elgin resident Elisa Lara was among those who voted in person at the Elgin Township office on McLean Boulevard.

“I usually vote early, but I’ve been pretty busy so I went this morning,” said Lara, who arrived about 10 a.m. and was among 10 to 15 people who were there at the same time. The whole process took about 15 minutes tops, she said

As of Tuesday morning, the clerk’s office had received 17,750 votes by mail and 21,449 people had voted before the Tuesday election, Cunningham said.

Those numbers include 5,462 ballots mailed in by Elgin voters, 2,337 ballots from those who voted early at the Elgin Township office on McClean Boulevard and 1,626 who voted early at the Gail Borden Public Library, he said.

Among the bigger contested races in the county were for mayoral seats in Carpentersville, Batavia, Geneva, St. Charles, Aurora, Huntley and Sleepy Hollow as well as for trustee and council seats and park, school and township board positions.Cunningham said that in the 22 years been county clerk, he’s seen off-year local elections draw as few as 11% of registered voters and as many as 24% countywide. He expected this year’s would fall somewhere in between those numbers, he said.

In the April 2023 consolidated election, 17.42% — 53,184 of 305,317 — registered voters cast ballots in Kane County, according to the canvass report. The Kane County portion of Elgin came in at 18.47% or 8,539 of 46,237 registered voters casting ballots.

“These are important elections. More people should vote in them because they directly affect what happens locally. But it is what it is,” Cunningham said.

Lara agreed.

“Municipal elections have a direct and immediate impact on our lives,” Lara said. “Local elections influence economic policies within our community, affecting local businesses as well. Overall they affect our economic vitality.”

Look for election results online Wednesday at www.chicagotribune.com/elgin-courier-news.

Mike Danahey is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.