Chicago voters participated in much lower turnout in this month’s general election than in recent presidential elections, marking the lowest turnout in 28 years, according to the Council’s most recent data Chicago elections.
While election officials initially expected turnout to be high, it ultimately turned out to be significantly low for a presidential election. According to unofficial results, the Chicago Board of Elections reported that about 67.9 percent of the city’s registered voters cast ballots in the election, about 3 percentage points below the turnout rate of 71 % in 2016 and 5 percentage points lower than in 2020, when the participation rate was 73.3. %.
The turnout represents a notable decline, not only in recent years, but in Chicago’s rich history of presidential elections. The percentage of registered voters who participated in this year’s election is the second lowest in 80 years – since the Chicago Board of Elections has kept organized records.
The only presidential election with lower citywide turnout was in 1996, when it fell to 63.2 percent. In that election, 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, a spokesman for the Chicago Board of Elections, previously said the city was on track to achieve a voter turnout rate of about 70 percent, which is a common rate in the city for presidential elections.
“Unfortunately, we did not see the influx of voters early in the morning and later in the evening on Election Day that we usually see,” Bever said.
As of Friday, the total vote count stood at just under 1,020,000 ballots.
Reports of lower-than-expected turnout in Chicago have left many voters perplexed as to why they faced long lines and hours of waiting on Election Day and before. This is likely due, in part, to Chicago’s vast voter turnout gaps – ranging from less than 50% to nearly 100% across the city’s 50 precincts.
Turnout was lowest in the West and Southwest districts, with the 14th, 15th, 22nd, 24th and 37th districts all seeing less than half of their registered voters cast ballots in the November elections .
But nowhere was turnout worse than in the 16th District, encompassing parts of the Englewood, Chicago Lawn, New City and Gage Park neighborhoods, with just 44 percent turnout.
Conversely, 10 neighborhoods recorded a participation rate above 80%, the vast majority of which is concentrated on the North and Far North sides, including along the lakeshore.
But one district dominated the rest: the 44th. Covering Lakeview, voters in this North Side precinct turned out at a nearly unprecedented rate, with a 96.3 percent turnout among eligible voters, 6 percentage points higher than the nearest precinct.
Chicago’s declining turnout trend was mirrored in suburban Cook County and some of its collar counties.
In suburban Cook County, turnout was slightly lower than the city, at 66.5 percent, according to unofficial totals from the Cook County Clerk’s Office. Like Chicago, this year’s turnout was about 5 percentage points lower than in 2016 and 2020. It was also the lowest turnout in a presidential election since 1996.
In DuPage and Lake counties, turnout rates were lower than average, at about 74% and 70.1%, according to unofficial results from those counties’ election boards.
Yet in Kane, McHenry and Will counties, turnout was slightly higher than the average for a presidential election year. In Kane, the participation rate reached 74.2% and 69.4% respectively.
In Kane, 74.2% of the county’s registered voters showed up on Election Day, submitted an absentee ballot or voted early — the highest rate since 2008. Meanwhile, turnout McHenry’s 69.4%, while above 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 in 2020.
