CALUMET CITY | Michelle Markiewicz Qualkinbush may have been the only name on the ballot for Calumet City's mayoral election on Tuesday, but with a write-in opponent, voters may have to wait to find out if the incumbent is the clear winner.

Qualkinbush, who first became mayor in 2003, faced competition from Calumet City police Sgt. Pam Cap.

With 31 of 32 precincts reporting on Tuesday night, Qualkinbush had 2,906 votes.

According to the Cook County clerk's Web site, results for write-in candidates may be available on April 22. The total number of ballots cast was not available Tuesday night.

Turnout varies, but in the 2005 mayoral election, 6,497 people cast their votes.

Qualkinbush did not return calls for comment Tuesday night.

At her campaign headquarters Tuesday night, Cap said it was difficult waiting for an answer.

"(With) early votes and absentee ballots, we might not know anything for two weeks," she said. "That part is really difficult to deal with, to have everybody in Calumet City waiting for two weeks to find out who their mayor is going to be.

"I'm doing a lot of pacing and wearing out the carpet."

Cap said she is grateful for all the support she received from her campaign workers.

Cap decided to wage a write-in campaign after the Calumet City Electoral Board removed her from the ballot, saying a Calumet City police officer could not run for mayor. An appellate court upheld a Cook County judge's ruling that she had no legal status to hear the case because Cap did not properly notify the electoral board of her intent to appeal in court.

Some voters found the write-in process confusing. At the Park of River Oaks, senior Mattye J. Jones said she left much of her ballot blank. She would have liked to have voted against Qualkinbush and City Clerk Gloria Dooley, she said, but those were the only names on the screen.

"I'm so mad I don't know what to do," Jones said. "You vote for her or no one. This is a farce."

Jones said she didn't know how to write in other candidates.

"It is confusing, if you don't know these people by name," she said. "It isn't fair."

But Joy Babbitt, 40, said she had a clear choice voting for Qualkinbush. As a mother, she said, she liked the mayor's city events and summer jobs program for youth.

"I voted for Michelle because I like what she's doing for the neighborhoods and offering a lot of things for teenagers," she said.