FREE
Independent
TAKE ONE
OPEN FOR LUNCH & DINNER
Bensenville
JOIN US FOR SPOR TS
50¢ WINGS & DRIN K White Pines Golf C
500 W. Jefferson St.,
also serving Wood Dale
VOL. 13 • NO. 25
SPECIALS
Sundays, Mondays & Thursdays
lub & Banquets
Bensenville | 630-76 6-0304 x3
A facility of Bensenvi
lle Park District
WWW.THEINDEPENDENTNEWSPAPERS.COM
261561
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2016
Election night serves up victories, disappointments, much relief that it’s over
By Dee Longfellow
FOR THE INDEPENDENT
Tuesday evening was filled with surprises, groans and triumphs until the biggest collective gasp of all – the one that came at 1:30 a.m. when the Associated Press and other media outlets officially declared that Republican nominee Donald Trump would become the 45th President of the United States. Throughout Election night, local results trickled in and anxieties were high, compounded by the fact that the DuPage Election Commission had difficulty posting the results right away, a problem that seems to plague them at virtually every election. At 7 p.m. when the polls closed, the web site said no results would be posted until 7:30 p.m., but the earliest posting came in after 9 p.m. Candidates were left waiting in frustration to learn their respective fates.
not only failed but also made the whole system slow down.
Duckworth garners an early win One of the earliest elections to be called on Nov. 8 was the race for U.S. Senate which brought victory to Democrat Tammy Duckworth over incumbent U.S. Senator Mark Kirk (R). She obtained 2,908,363
votes to his 2,150,099, garnering 54.4% of the total. [Note: These numbers have been updated since Election night, but were still unofficial as of press time..] In the 5th Congressional District, Democrat Mike Quigley easily won another term with almost 70% of the vote over his Republican challenger Vince Kolber. The vote was 201,983 to 82,931.
In the contest for the seat vacated by Tammy Duckworth in the 8th Congressional District, Raja Krishnamoorthi handily beat Elmhurst resident Pete DiCianni (R) 141,138 to 101,893 (58.1% to 41.9%). In Illinois House District 77, Democrat Kathleen Willis held her seat for another term, beating Republican challenger Anthony Airdo 8,271 (63.34%) to 4,787 (36.66%).
It was a hand-wringer to the bitter end for Villa Park resident Tom Cullerton, but in the end, he squeaked past challenger Seth Lewis and won his second term of office in Illinois Senate District 23 by a vote of 42,731 (50.83%) to 41,342 (49.1%). Here are the results in the County Board Races:
See ELECTION, Page 4
Blackhawk Middle School students head to the polls
Election Commission: new software a disappointment Later in the week, the Independent learned that the DuPage County Election Commission officials had been excited to roll out their brand new computer software system to expedite returns and provide results more quickly. Instead the site contained only error messages and indications that results would be available at any minute… still it took more than two hours. According to Robert Saar, executive director of the Election Commission, the servers were “stressed by a combination of factors,” including an unexpected update that consumed much of the server’s processing space. There was also a link directly to ABC 7 News that was supposed to allow the TV station to receive election results right from the commission’s servers. Apparently, that link
Polls opened at the Blackhawk Middle School mock election early in the school day on Tuesday, Nov. 8. The polling place, located in the school’s auditorium, was manned by retired teachers, family and community members serving as election judges. After presenting their voter registration cards to the election judges, students went to the ballot box to cast their vote and exercise their civic responsibility, preparing themselves for their first real election day that’s still four or more years away. COURTESY PHOTO Bensenville Independent
262460
Inside:
Police Reports......4, 6 Sports ����������������������9 Travel................25-27 Classifieds..........22-23 WEDNESDAY SPECIAL 202 W. GREEN ST. BENSENVILLE, IL 60106 CORNER OF GREEN & ADDISON
630-422-1005
Haircuts
9.99
$
Eye Brow Threading/ Waxing
5.00
$
20% OFF Any Chemical Service With this Ad
First time clients only
PRSRT STD US POSTAGE PAID ROCK VALLEY PUBLISHING LLC