Politics
With 2 Weeks Until Election Day, Here’s How Early Vote Counts in Chicago Are Comparing to Previous Presidential Elections
Chicago voting booths are pictured in a 2023 file photo. (Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)
We’re two weeks away from Election Day, and more than 86,000 ballots have been received as of Monday night for the upcoming general election, according to the Chicago Board of Elections.
“People are realizing Election Day is now right around the corner and now taking advantage of these early voting options to get their civic duty out of the way,” said Max Bever, director of public information at Chicago Board of Elections.
Of the 86,878 total ballots received so far, 30,149 were early-vote ballots and 56,729 were vote-by-mail ballots, according to the Chicago Board of Elections.
Monday also marked the first day of early voting in all 50 Chicago wards. Since Oct. 3, early voting had been available for Chicagoans at two downtown locations.
On Monday, 17,299 early-vote ballots were cast in wards, according to the Chicago Board of Elections.
Races on this year’s ballot include U.S. president, U.S. representatives, state legislators, the Cook County state’s attorney and Illinois Supreme Court judges. For the first time, voters in Chicago will also be voting on elected school board members.
WTTW News 2024 General Election Voter Guide
In the 2020 presidential election, the city saw more than 306,000 ballots received 15 days out from Election Day with about two-thirds of ballots being vote-by-mail ballots.
Bever said it’s tough to make the comparisons to 2020.
In that election year, state legislation expanded early voting and voting by mail for voters during the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 75% of the city’s voters ended up voting before Election Day either through early voting or voting by mail, Bever said. That compared to the years since 2020 in which Chicago generally sees 25% of voters early vote, 25% vote by mail and 50% vote on Election Day, Bever added.
But while Bever described the 2020 presidential election as an “anomaly,” he said it has also since changed the voting habits for many voters.
“What we have seen since 2020 is a lot of those voting habits have changed and hung on,” Bever said. “2020 was a year that got many people, perhaps, voting by mail for the first time or early voting for the first time.”
In the 2016 presidential election, more than 52,000 ballots were received just over two weeks out from Election Day, considerably less than the more than 86,000 ballots received so far for this year’s upcoming election.
In 2016, about 23% of ballots cast just over two weeks before Election Day were vote-by-mail. This year, voting by mail accounts for nearly two-thirds of ballots cast so far.
Election Day is Nov. 5.
Contact Eunice Alpasan: @eunicealpasan | 773-509-5362 | [email protected]
