By Claire Malon
Chicago Tribune
(Chicago Tribune) — Chicago voters turned out at a much lower rate in this month’s general election than in recent presidential contests, marking the lowest turnout rate in 28 years, according to the most recent data from the Chicago Board of Elections.
While election officials initially expected a high turnout, it ended up being markedly low for a presidential election. According to unofficial results, the Chicago Board of Elections reported that roughly 67.9% of registered city voters cast ballots in the election, roughly 3 percentage points less than the 71% turnout in 2016 and 5 percentage points lower than in 2020, when turnout was 73.3%.
The turnout rate represents a notable drop, not just in recent years but in the storied history of presidential races in Chicago. The percentage of registered voters who participated in this year’s election is the second lowest in 80 years — as far back as the Chicago Board of Elections keeps organized records.
The only presidential contest with a lower citywide turnout was in 1996 when it dropped to 63.2%. In that election, then-incumbent President Bill Clinton easily defeated Republican Bob Dole. Interestingly, Chicago hosted the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in 1996 and 2024.
Max Bever, spokesman for the Chicago Board of Elections, had previously said the city was on track for about 70% voter turnout — which is a common rate in the city for presidential elections.
“Unfortunately, we did not see the early morning and later evening voter surges for Election Day that we usually see,” Bever had said.
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As of Friday, the total vote count stood at just under 1,020,000 ballots.
Reports of lower than expected turnout in Chicago left many voters confused as to why they experienced long lines and hourslong waits on and before Election Day. This is likely due, in part, to the vast discrepancies in voter turnout across Chicago — ranging from less than 50% to close to 100% turnout in the city’s 50 wards.
Turnout was lowest in wards on the West and Southwest sides, with the 14th, 15th, 22nd, 24th and 37th wards all seeing less than half of their registered voters cast ballots in the November election.
But nowhere was turnout worse than in the 16th Ward, encompassing parts of the Englewood, Chicago Lawn, New City and Gage Park neighborhoods, with just 44% participation.
Conversely, 10 wards saw turnout levels greater than 80% — the vast majority of which are concentrated on the North and Far North sides, including along the lakefront.
But one ward dominated the rest — the 44th. Covering Lakeview, voters in this North Side ward showed up at an almost unprecedented rate, with 96.3% turnout among eligible voters — a whole 6 percentage points more than the next closest ward.
Chicago’s lower turnout trend was reflected in suburban Cook County and some of its collar counties.
In the Cook County suburbs, turnout was slightly lower than the city at 66.5%, according to unofficial vote totals from the Cook County Clerk’s Office. Like Chicago, this year’s turnout was around 5 percentage points lower than it was in 2016 and 2020. It also represented the lowest participation rate in a presidential election going back to 1996.
In DuPage and Lake counties, the turnout rates were lower than average, at roughly 74% and 70.1%, according to unofficial results from the election boards in those counties.
Yet, in Kane, McHenry and Will counties, turnout was slightly higher than average for a presidential election year. In Kane, turnout hit 74.2% and 69.4% turnout, respectively.
In Kane, 74.2% of the county’s registered voters turned up on Election Day, submitted a mail-in ballot or voted early — the greatest rate since 2008. Meanwhile, McHenry’s 69.4% turnout, though higher than average, was still lower than in 2020.
At 75.1%, turnout in Will County was higher than the rest of the Chicago area. Yet, like McHenry, turnout was still slightly lower than 2020.
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