McHenry County election judge suffered heart attack, died during vote count

An election judge in suburban McHenry County suffered a heart attack and died Tuesday night as election results were being tabulated.

According to McHenry County Clerk Joe Tirio, 75-year-old Petter Culver was working at the McCullom Lake Village Hall on Tuesday night when he suffered a cardiac event.

The McHenry County Coroner said Culver was pronounced dead at the scene.

Tirio said Culver had worked as an election judge for years, and praised him for “showing up” for democracy and called the work of election judges “sacred work” in his remarks.

“You did not just talk about democracy. You showed up for it, right until the very end.” He said. “Rest now, Petter. Your work here is done, and it was done well.”

The area was secured following Culver’s death, according to the coroner’s office, and Dr. Michael Rein thanked first responders for their work, as well as Tirio and his team.

“I want to thank Mr. Tirio and his team for the professionalism they showed during this unusual and unfortunate event,” he said.