The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
The major elections to be decided by voters in Hancock County in the April 9, 2013 Consolidated election will be three referenda, according to Hancock County Clerk Kerry Asbridge.
Some major and highway commissioner contests are other high profile elections, he said.
One polling place has been changed. The Dallas City Precinct Number One polling place has been moved to the Dallas City Township Hall, 354 Oak, Dallas City, Illinois.
"It was the Golden Age Senior Citizen building," Asbridge explained.
The Illinois West High School District Board of Education is asking voters to approve issuance of $8,000,000 in general obligation bonds to partially fund acquiring a site, construction, and equipping a new high school building at the northeast edge of Carthage - east of the current football field and school complex. State funding is expected to pay for most of the project.
The Nauvoo-Colusa School District is asking voters to approve an increase in the maximum education fund tax rate from $2.00 to $2.55 per hundred dollars assessed valuation. The approximate amount of education fund money allowed by the increase is estimated to be $311,000.
The City of Hamilton is asking voters to permit the city to negotiate with a wholesale electricity supplier for residential and small commercial customers within the city.
Ameren would still provide the distribution system and be paid for the distribution costs.
Customers have a limited time window hereby the could "opt-out" of the city's chosen wholesale supplier and choose their own supplier.
All referenda require a simple majority of voters cast on the question by approval.
Mayor elections include Nauvoo, where incumbent John McCarty and Beverly Reynolds are candidates.
In Hamilton, Steven Lowman and former mayor David Cornelius are candidates.
In Warsaw, former mayor Alan Leffler, Perry Cameron, and Tiffany Murphy are candidates.
Incumbent Carthage mayor Jim Nightingale is unopposed and will be reelected. Nightingale has served as mayor approximately 30 years.
La Harpe and Dallas City have no mayoral elections this year.
Incumbent village presidents who will be reelected include Bob Durand of Pontoosuc, Charles Vass of Ferris, Sandra Printy of Elvaston, Jim Dameron of Basco, Marty Husband of Bentley, David Ellis of Plymouth, Larry Wood of West Point, Mark Willard of Bowen, and Timothy Hiland of Augusta.
Highway commissioner contests exist in four townships: Appanoose, Saint Marys, Saint Albans, and Chili. School board member contests exist in four school districts: Nauvoo-Colusa, Hamilton, Southeastern, and Carthage Elementary.
Polls open at 6:00 a.m. and close at 7:00 p.m. statewide in Illinois. Results of close contests may not be know until April 23, 2013 since absentee ballots may "float-in" through the mail until that date according to state law.