Despite only one contested local race, voter turnout in Tuesday’s election was very high in Monroe County. 

Unofficial final numbers indicate over 81 percent of registered voters in the county made their voices heard at the ballot box, with a total of 21,012 votes tallied for Monroe County, eclipsing the 79 percent voter turnout in 2020.

In the race for Illinois 12th Congressional District U.S. Representative, incumbent Mike Bost (R-Murphysboro) easily defeated challenger Brian Roberts (D-Carbondale) by a nearly four-to-one margin.

In Monroe County, Bost received 72 percent of votes cast, or 14,984 votes to 5,698 for Roberts.

“The polls are closed and I am thrilled to announce we have won our race by a wide margin,” Bost said in a press release. “This election was about standing up for our shared conservative values with a message that resonated in every corner of our district. Southern Illinoisans will continue to form a unified front in the fight for our families and ensure that our constitutional rights are protected.”

State Rep. David Friess (R-Red Bud) ran unopposed for his seat in the Illinois General Assembly, as did State Sen. Terri Bryant (R-Murphysboro).

Four Republican county officials – State’s Attorney Ryan Webb, Circuit Clerk Lisa Fallon, Commissioner Doug Garmer and Coroner Bob Hill – also ran unopposed.

Former President Donald Trump took 67 percent of the Monroe County vote in the race for U.S. President, receiving 14,009 votes to 6,420 for current Vice President Kamala Harris. Robert F. Kennedy tallied 357 votes, and there were a surprisingly high amount of write-in votes in the county at 124.

Harris carried Illinois by a 10-point margin over Trump, with reports showing 53.8 percent of votes for Harris compared to 44 percent for Trump as of late Tuesday night.

As for the national vote for president, Trump secured the required amount of Electoral College votes early Wednesday morning and was leading the popular vote by a comfortable margin.

There were also three state advisory referenda on the ballot for Monroe Countians.

Local residents were in line with the rest of the state on the question of whether to allow penalties for a candidate who interferes with election officials.

In Monroe County, nearly 86 percent of voters were in favor of the referendum compared to approximately 89 percent of voters statewide voting “yes” on the question.

A referendum asking if a new tax bracket should be implemented to add a 3 percent tax to income over $1 million, 51 percent of Monroe County voters said “yes” while about 61 percent of voters throughout the state supported the tax.

A question regarding expanded insurance coverage for reproductive care gained 59 percent approval locally compared to almost 75 percent of voters statewide voting in favor of the referendum.  A complete breakdown of local elections may be accessed by clicking here, although state law requires county clerks to accept any vote-by-mail ballots up to two weeks after Election Day provided they are postmarked Nov. 5 or earlier.

Long lines for early voting was an indication of what was described by Monroe County Clerk Jonathan McLean as “very heavy” voter turnout for the general election on Tuesday.

“My election team is processing over 1,000 voters per hour,” McLean said early Tuesday afternoon. “It’s going really well.”

That overall turnout included about 9,700 residents who either voted by mail or participated in early voting prior to Tuesday, McLean said.

Nearly 7,500 residents voted early this election.

Same day registrations were the biggest issue being reported by McLean on Election Day.

While same-day voter registration has been allowed in Illinois for several years, it appears more local residents took advantage of that option this election cycle.

“It’s supposed to be the exception and not the norm,” McLean said.

Due to what McLean said was an “abundance” of new registrations and other voter registration changes such as address or name corrections – estimated in the hundreds – there were some long waits for voters Tuesday at certain polling places.

He added the new registrants “(bogged) down the election judges a bit,” also noting the wait time for voters who were not registered was longer than that of voters who were already in the system.

McLean reported another minor delay was caused by a router that went out in Hecker, resulting in connection issues. However, that router was switched out in a short amount of time, McLean said.