Turnout for early voting in some Chicago suburbs is off to a strong — and, in at least one county, record-breaking — start, leaving some election officials hopeful for high voter turnout in a close election.
Officials in the collar counties of DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will have begun tallying up early voting, which opened Thursday. Chicago voters, however, have to wait until Thursday to cast early ballots in person, and suburban Cook County residents will be able to vote early in person beginning Oct. 9.
In DuPage County, turnout on day one of early voting smashed records set four years ago, according to the clerk’s office. Some 1,530 voters took to the polls last Thursday, more than double the 660 voters that turned out for the first day of early voting in 2020, which — at the time — was a record in itself, the county clerk’s office announced in a news release.
“While it’s too early to make predictions, it appears that DuPage County is on track to have a large turnout for this presidential election,” county Clerk Jean Kaczmarek said in a statement. “There’s excitement in the air.”
Indeed, watch parties were planned across Chicagoland Tuesday night for the highly anticipated vice presidential debate between Republican Sen. JD Vance and Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. It was the only scheduled vice presidential debate — and possibly last debate between the two campaigns — before the election in November.
“The presidential race always gets a lot of energy — I think it’s got a lot of energy this year,” said Susan Craighead, president of the League of Women Voters of Naperville, which has made a historic get-out-the-vote effort this year. “But those downballot races are the ones that affect our day-to-day lives. (They’re) equally as important.”
In DuPage County, turnout has remained strong since in-person early voting opened at select locations, including Naperville’s 400 S. Eagle St. Municipal Center, Kaczmarek said in follow-up conversations with the Tribune.
Through the first four days, 5,117 voters have cast ballots, according to Kaczmarek. Meanwhile, just over 2,687 voters turned out across the first four days of early voting in 2020.
In all, DuPage saw 76.55% of registered voters cast ballots for the 2020 election — the largest turnout in county history. Four years earlier, in 2016, turnout was 70.61%. The county saw a similar turnout of 71.44% in 2012’s general election.
DuPage’s robust start to the Nov. 5 election comes after a meager showing of primary voters this spring. For March’s primary, the county saw about 20.4% turnout. Despite the lackluster showing, county officials at the time said they weren’t surprised, between very few contested local primary races and what was then a familiar presidential race.
However, even in March, officials said they expected much higher turnout come November, with the primaries setting up for a heavily contested local race environment in the general election. And that was before the changes at the national level, with President Joe Biden dropping out and Vice President Kamala Harris replacing him at the top of the Democratic ticket.
Kaczmarek said she is “not comfortable talking about the politics” but noted that “we do have contested races now, unlike in the primary (when) we didn’t have as many.” She added that DuPage is helping shore up early voting by expanding the number of early voting sites from one location in 2020 to five this year.
Turnout in other suburban counties
In Will County, early voting turnout is likewise off to a good start, interim county Clerk Charles Pelkie said Tuesday. Through the first three days of early voting, more than 900 voters cast their ballots, Pelkie said.
While Pelkie said it’s too early to say how November’s election will shape up compared to previous years, he expects it to be “very busy.” In 2020, general election turnout in Will County was about 75%.
“Obviously, the top of the ticket is driving a lot of interest in the election,” he said. “But certainly, there are also local races that may be of interest.”
Kane County also saw a 33% increase on the first day of early voting compared with 2020, according to county Clerk John Cunningham. By the end of Monday, more than 1,600 people had voted early.
Meanwhile, early voting was relatively consistent with the previous election in Lake County, said county Clerk Anthony Vega. Last Thursday, 305 people voted, compared to 313 people during the last presidential election.
By Tuesday afternoon, Vega said 809 people voted, all at the Lake County Courthouse and Administration Building in Waukegan. Vega said some people he talked to voted early because they are traveling on Election Day. Others said news reports prompted them to vote right away.
“My staff has been here for multiple years. It’s not their first presidential (election) for the most part,” Vega said. “But they’ve been surprised about the steady flow of people that keep coming in every day.”
Lake, Will, Kane and DuPage counties will open up additional early voting sites on Oct. 21 leading up to Election Day.
Preparation for early voting in Chicago
The city of Chicago aimed to open early voting last Thursday alongside suburban counties but needed more time to test, proof and translate ballots, said Max Bever, a spokesman for the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners.
Early voting begins Thursday at two downtown offices — the Voting Super Site (191 N. Clark St.) and Board Offices (69 W. Washington St. — 6th Floor) and Oct. 21 in the city’s 50 wards.
Bever expects 50% of city voters will cast their ballots early, half by mail and half in person at early voting centers, as Chicagoans increasingly show a preference for voting ahead of Election Day.
Bever attributes this to convenience and an increasing familiarity with the practice. The February and April 2023 municipal elections both saw early voter and vote-by-mail turnout nearly triple compared with the 2019 and 2015 citywide elections.
And, a storm warning ahead of the April 2023 Election Day showed the benefit of early voting. Bever said 30,044 early ballots were cast the day before Election day. It is the most early votes Chicago has seen in a single day.
“Not only is early voting very convenient, it also helped lead to a safer and more secure election day,” Bever said. “We strive to have early voting available as soon as possible.”