Each Consolidated Election, we receive calls asking if we have any information on local school board candidates and others. The task of compiling such a large amount of data is overwhelming, so we’re starting with school board and asking for your help.
We are asking you to send a school board candidate questionnaire to the candidates running in your town.
Electing good people to these offices is critical to the well-being of your children and your neighbor’s children, if they attend public school.
These mid-year elections generally have very poor turnout, likely in part because information on where the candidates stand is hard to come by. But because of low voter turnout, it would not take many votes to get the best candidates elected.
Your local county clerk’s web site should have a list of candidates. Or go to the Illinois State Board of Elections to find your county or city election jurisdiction. Please note that if you live in one of the six cities that are an election jurisdiction, you will have to select that city and not your county. Those cities are: Bloomington, Chicago, Danville, East St. Louis, Galesburg, Rockford. These are listed as “City of ______.”
Helpful Tips
Every county clerk website is different. The candidate list may be very long, but at this time, we’re only concentrating on school board. If this experiment is successful, we may expand it to others in the future.
You’ll need to know your school’s name and district number to find the candidates on your ballot. If you don’t know or don’t have your voter ID card, call your town/village clerk and ask for public school districts in your town.
Another helpful hint: At the top right of the web page listing all the candidates, you should see 3 horizontal dots. If you click on those dots, scroll down and select “Find” or “Find on Page.” Type in your school district to search quicker.
If their email addresses are provided, email them this link to the questionnaire.
If email addresses are not included, but their home addresses are, would you please take the time to print and mail them this school board candidate questionnaire.
If you’re able, please include a self-addressed stamped envelope for them to send the completed form to us:
Illinois Family Institute
PO Box 876
Tinley Park, IL 60477
Completed questionnaires will be posted on the Illinois Family Institute website.
If you want to help in this effort and are having a difficult time finding the candidate information, please call Kathy at the IFI office: (708) 781-9328.
We greatly appreciate your help with this project! Thank you very much!
