By Erick Johnson
Nearly half of Chicago’s 18 Black wards have a combined 21,255 fewer voters than they had 20 years ago, and several have made small gains in that time period, according to election data the Crusader viewed from the Chicago Board of Elections.
Wards 6, 8, 17,18, 20, 21, 24 and 37 all have lost thousands of voters in the past 20 years.
The biggest loss is in the 24th Ward, which lost 5,334 registered voters, going from 32,533 registered voters in 2000 to 27,199 in 2019.
The 6th Ward experienced the second largest loss of 4,082 voters, going from 36,981 in 2000 to 32,899.
The 18th Ward lost 2,574 registered voters.
The 17th and 21st Wards experienced losses of over 2,000 voters.
Many Black wards over the years experienced roller coaster losses and gains of registered voters, but some have consistently lost registered voters between presidential years.
Since 2000, three Black wards have posted small gains in Black registered voters. The 7th Ward has gained just 67 voters, going from 32,282 in 2000 to 32,349 in 2019. The 34th Ward, gained 120 new registered voters from 37,137 to 37,257. The 9th, 10th and 28th Wards gained over 1,000 new registered voters since 2000.
The 5th Ward, which has consistently lost voters between presidential election years, gained just 925 registered voters, going from 31,141 in 2000, to 32,066.
Overall, the number of voters in Black wards increased by 11,940 voters, going from 590,313 in 2000 to 602,253 in 2019.
Voters in Chicago’s 18 Black wards make up 38 percent of the city’s 1,581,755 registered voters in all 50 Wards.
The 3rd Ward gained 14,702 registered votes since 2000, going from 23,256 to 37,958 in 2019. It’s the largest gain among the Black wards.
The 4th Ward had the second highest with 7,167 new voters for a total of 36,315 registered voters.
The 27th and 29th Wards gained 3,291 and 2,298 voters respectively.
