CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — A midday election update from the Chicago Board of Elections revealed sluggish voter turnout, especially among younger voters.
Max Bever, with the Chicago Board of Elections, said voters in the 18–24 age range represented less than 3% of total ballots so far.
"This election, so far, has been driven by older voters, but especially 65 and up," Bever said. "Sixty-five and up, right now, are representing over 37% of total ballots cast."
Although Bever said election day voter turnout is lower than in 2019, he noted that it’s not necessarily because less people are voting.
"If the turnout remains sluggish today, I think that points to, very clearly, that we have a set amount of voters for municipal elections in Chicago," Bever said. "They're just choosing to early vote and to vote by mail instead."
He said the board has over 213,000 applications to vote by mail, which is the highest the board has ever had for a municipal election.
Bever said there's still plenty of time left to bring Chicago’s in-person voting numbers up, as polling places are scheduled to remain open until 7 p.m.
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