Elmwood Park Village Runs On Low Voter Turnout
By Kevin Gosztola
Members of the Elmwood Park village board, including Village President Angelo “Skip” Saviano, were sworn in by Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias on May 5.
During the meeting, Saviano thanked residents for voting and re-electing him to a fourth term, along with several of his colleagues in the People’s Choice Party.
Saviano suggested that he and others on the board were re-elected because of the village administration, including the police department, fire department, public works, and code enforcement. “It’s an amazing compilation of people who really love this town and work hard for this town.”
“And not all of them are residents. Most of them are,” Saviano added. “But my point is they care about our residents in those different departments, and you see the difference on the street.”
It was slightly different from a previous remark that he shared during the board meeting on April 7. At that meeting, he specifically praised the level of participation in the village election. “That’s a real tribute to the residents of Elmwood Park—actually contributing to the election process."
But there are 15,814 registered voters in the village. Only about 2,700 voted in the village election.
The fact is Saviano was re-elected because the subsection of residents, who first elected him in 2013, turned out to vote.
In 2013, Saviano defeated Joseph “Joe” Ponzio. Saviano received 2,559, and Ponzio received 2,050 votes.
Only 11 percent of registered voters cast a ballot for Saviano in 2017—1,575 residents. That cycle he ran unopposed.
Saviano again ran unopposed in 2021. Less than eight percent of residents voted for him—1,138 registered voters.
In 2025, however, turnout actually doubled compared to previous elections because Salvatore “Sam” LaBarbera ran against Saviano.
While Saviano overwhelmingly beat LaBarbera, if LaBarbera had not challenged Saviano turnout would have been around 10 percent (or lower).
Furthermore, if an increased number of residents support Saviano’s administration, that has not been reflected at the ballot box.
Angelo Lollino, a village board trustee, took a moment during the May meeting to thank residents for having the confidence to vote him into office again. Like Saviano, this is his fourth term.
However, Lollino’s re-election was not much of an achievement. He, and the two other elected village trustees, ran unopposed.
According to a report from the University of Chicago’s Center for Effective Government (CEG), Elmwood Park’s incredibly low voter turnout is typical. Turnout in major cities, like Chicago, is often around 20 percent. In contrast, most smaller municipalities see less than 10 percent of voters participate in elections for their town’s various boards.
The CEG suggests that low turnout is likely due to municipalities holding elections on “separate days from major state or federal elections.
” If Elmwood Park’s election was synced with the presidential or midterm election, it is possible that nearly half of registered voters would participate.
Whatever the solution may be, the vast majority of registered voters in Elmwood Park do not vote in village elections. That effectively means Elmwood Park officials succeed thanks to low turnout and disengagement among residents, who are not part of Saviano and the People’s Choice Party’s tight-knit group of supporters.