Chicago sees 20% voter turnout rate in primary elections as polls close at 7 p.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) – Voter turnout in the city of Chicago was a meager 20% when the polls closed on Tuesday, Election Day for several county, state and federal primary races.
A total of 299,490 ballots have been counted in the city as of 7 p.m. on Election Day, according to the Chicago Board of Elections. Those numbers don't include mail-in ballots that could have been mailed in by Tuesday's deadline, but have yet to arrive at the board. Turnout numbers also could increase slightly as officials begin counting votes.
The board also released data on voter demographics. Voters between the ages of 65 and 74 cast the most amount of ballots as of 7 p.m. on Tuesday with 62,447.
Also as of 7 p.m. on Tuesday, the board reported 43,380 ballots cast among residents age 75 and older; 58,631 ballots cast among residents age 55 to 64; 42,510 ballots cast among residents age 45 to 54; 41,490 ballots cast among residents age 35 to 44; 39,854 ballots cast among residents age 25 to 34; and 10,760 ballots cast among residents age 18 to 24.
On Tuesday alone, 122,594 ballots were cast citywide as of 5 p.m., according to the Board of Elections, with the rest of the votes so far coming through early voting or voting by mail.
Turnout started out especially slow in the morning, but steadily increased through the late morning and early afternoon before tapering off slightly at the end of the day.
- 6:00am – 4,068 voted
- 7:00am – 7,921 voted
- 8:00am – 9,377 voted
- 9:00am – 10,139 voted
- 10:00am – 11,376 voted
- 11:00am – 12,372 voted
- Noon – 11,789 voted
- 1:00pm – 11,505 voted
- 2:00pm – 12,799 voted
- 3:00pm – 14,136 voted
- 4:00pm – 17,122 voted
- 5:00pm – 21,048 voted
- 6:00pm – 19,718 voted
CBS 2's Steven Graves spoke to voters on Tuesday in Englewood about their top concerns during this election cycle.
Littleton Rush said his top priority while voting was gun violence.
"It's everywhere," Rush said. "I don't know what we can do to stop it, but we all need to work together."
Voter Misty Walton also listed gun violence among her top concerns, in addition to wanting more programs for children and abortion rights.
"I think those are really big issues that need to be represented," Walton said.
Darryl Smith, a longtime Englewood community leader and election coordinator, said despite few voters in the 16th Ward, where turnout is historically low, there are people who care. Local leaders tried to work out any kinks ahead of November's general election. They tried to ensure residents knew about and had access to the decreased number of precincts.
"For the people I've talked to, they just feel the importance of leadership in office that directly effects the community or reflects the community that we live in," Smith said.
Polls close on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
