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Aside from a Republican candidate's field office and a few supporters going door-to-door for Democrat Barack Obama, the presidential race has been quiet in Carbondale.

But that will likely change today, said one former political adviser.

Mike Lawrence, who was press secretary and adviser to former Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar, predicted the state would be an important one for presidential candidates to win more delegates.

"This year's voter turnout will be up," he said.

Voters across Illinois and 23 other states will be participating in the 2008 general primary election today. Dubbed "Super Tuesday" for the number of states voting, the primary includes the selection of candidates and delegates in the race for president. In Jackson County, polling places will be open from 6 a.m. until 7 p.m. for registered voters to submit a ballot.

A primary election features candidates of the same political party opposing one another for a public office. The winner moves on to face rivaling party candidates for the same position in the general election on Nov. 4. In Jackson County, most of the local offices on the ballot have unopposed candidates.

Catherine Hamman, an 18-year-old election judge from Carbondale, said people should vote at their designated precinct, as well as present photo identification. The voter will be given either a Republican, Democratic, Green or non-partisan ballot as soon as they are authorized to vote by an election judge. Paper ballot voters should darken the oval next to their choice to cast a vote.

Upon completion, a ballot is fed to the ballot box, which records a voter's choices on the spot.

Carl Mitchell, a 69-year-old Carbondale resident, and Jack Brown, a 75-year-old Murphysboro native, began loading a truck with tables and ballot boxes at 8 a.m. Monday before setting out to assemble 13 polling places, which included Carbondale Middle School and SIUC's Grinnell Hall.

Unlike previous years, the two propped up cardboard instead of hanging curtains to create the voting booths. Mitchell and Brown have been setting up precincts together for 10 years.

All voters have the option of using a booth equipped with Automark, which is a machine that allows voters to select their candidate electronically. Mitchell said each precinct has an Automark available.

Crews delivered ballot boxes without their computerized ballot counters inside. Mitchell said the electronic ballot counters are delivered to election judges the night before, who will place them inside the ballot box as early as 5:30 a.m. Tuesday. Ballot counters tally up votes and save the results to a memory card.

The paper ballots and memory cards will be delivered by election judges from all precincts to Jackson County Clerk Larry Reinhardt at the county courthouse in Murphysboro soon after polls close.

Delegates must select a presidential candidate to endorse, which is listed on the ballot. Delegate nominees whose candidate is no longer campaigning can still be elected, but each party has its own way of determining who won the election, Reinhardt said.

Lawrence said the final decision of which candidate will represent the parties in November could be decided by the national convention delegates, who are also on Tuesday's ballot, in August and September.

Daily Egyptian writer Barton Lorimor can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 274 or barton.lorimor@siude.com.

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