Editing Oak Park, Illinois (section)

===Elections===
Oak Park's village board, village president, and other elected officials are elected through a two-stage election process. A primary election is used to nominate party candidates, and a general election is used to elect government officials. Oak Park's election turnout varies greatly depending on whether it is a municipal or national election. In the 2012 presidential election, Oak Park had the highest voter turnout in suburban Cook County; 79.8% of registered voters cast a ballot.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oakpark.com/Community/Blogs/11-7-2012/Oak-Park-has-highest-voter-turnout-in-suburban-Cook-County/ |title=Oak Park has highest voter turnout in suburban Cook County |author=Lothson, Anna |date=November 7, 2012 |publisher=Wednesday Journal |access-date=July 6, 2015 |archive-date=November 11, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121111083127/http://www.oakpark.com/Community/Blogs/11-7-2012/Oak-Park-has-highest-voter-turnout-in-suburban-Cook-County/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Municipal elections for the board of trustees and village clerk generally have much lower voter turnout, averaging around 20% and are held in spring, consistent with state law. The municipal elections are considered nonpartisan, as the national political parties do not put up the candidates. Candidates step forward, or are found by a citizens group that works to find people to have new candidates for each election cycle, encourage participation in local issues.