On Election Day, Sue Rennels said she is hoping to surpass the high voter turnout she experienced during the 2008 presidential election despite a nearly seven-thousand decrease in registered voters.

Rennels, the Coles County clerk, said the county has registered 32,867 voters, among that number is 1,015 Eastern students — less than the 1,161 student voters that cast their ballots on the previous Election Day on Nov. 4, 2008.

About 300 Eastern students voted before Tuesday.

“The 2008 presidential had 70.85 percent voter turnout; you always hope to top that,” Rennels said in an email.

As the student executive vice president, Jarrod Scherle was in charge of the student government’s voter registration drive that took place in one week at the beginning of the semester.

“In our week-long drive, we registered 1,055 voters,” Scherle said. “I’m very happy with the way things turned out.”

Scherle said it is important that the current generation becomes a part of the political process now.

Scherle said his first time voting was in the 2008 elections.

“A big criticism of our generation is apathy and not caring, (so) we didn’t just register people to vote, but we also promoted the two week period where you can vote ahead of time,” he said.

All 17 polling locations in Charleston will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Rennels said a form of identification would help the identification process.

“Voter ID cards would be helpful,” Rennels said. “If a voter cannot locate that, an ID would be helpful to assist judges locating them in the system.”

Though Rennels said she does expect some glitches to occur, she is confident in her office’s ability to properly assess complications.

“We prepare to the best of our abilities to make everything go (smoothly), but come Election Day you just take it as it comes,” Rennels said.

Rennels said the office is fully staffed for Tuesday’s voting rush during the before-work, lunch and after-work hours.

“I never know how long this process will take, (and) it depends on when the judges bring me their results,” she said.

Rennels said a Republican and Democrat judge from each precinct will provide their results to the clerk’s office.

Nike Ogunbodede can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].