Expanded Early Voting in Black wards boosts turnout by over 1K percent

During the first week of expanded Early Voting for the March 19 Democratic Primary, the turnout in Chicago’s Black wards increased by over 1,000 percent, according to an analysis of data released by the Chicago Board of Elections.

Election officials have been releasing daily voter turnout numbers since Early Voting began February 21. During the first nine days of Early Voting, voters had to travel to two downtown Supersites to cast their ballots.

But on Monday, March 4, Early Voting expanded to all 50 wards, giving voters the convenience of casting their ballots at designated polling places in their wards.

As of March 10, about 54,091 people who make up 1.5 million registered voters in Chicago have cast their ballots, according to election officials. More than a third, or about 36 percent of those who voted, live in Chicago’s 17 Black wards.

During the first weeks of Early Voting, the Crusader documented daily voter turnout in Chicago’s Black wards on the South and West sides.

After expanding Early Voting to all 50 wards, voter turnout in Black wards increased by over a 1,000 percent, going from 518 on March 3, to 9,518 on March 10. That’s a difference of 8,700 votes.

As of March 11, the 18th Ward had the highest turnout with 848 voters casting their ballots. The 21st Ward had the second highest, with 754 voters going to the polls. The 6th Ward had 666 voters cast their ballots, giving that ward the third highest turnout among the Black wards.

The 8th Ward had 664 voters at the polls, followed by the 9th Ward at 649; the 4th Ward at 639; the 29th Ward and the 7th Ward at 587; the 17th Ward at 579 and the 3rd Ward at 554 ballots cast.

Election data show that voter turnout in the Black wards is averaging 6,557 ballots a day. The biggest turnout in the Black wards so far during Early Voting was Tuesday, March 5, where a total of 1,657 voters went to the polls. On March 4, the first day of expanded Early Voting, the 24th Ward on the West Side had the highest turnout ever so far with 244 voters going to the polls.

Before Early Voting expanded to Chicago’s 50 wards, election data show the two Supersites in the Loop struggled to draw residents from Black wards to downtown to vote. Some Black wards didn’t have a single resident cast their ballot at either Supersite, election data show.

Over four days, only one voter from the 9th Ward cast their ballot at one of the Supersites. And for three days, no one from the 37th Ward traveled downtown to vote, election data show.

Residents can also vote by mail, and they must request a ballot before the deadline expires March 14. As of March 10, election officials said 27,964 Vote By Mail ballots were returned out of 172,735 that were sent out.

For a list of voting sites in your ward, go to https://chicagoelections.gov/voting/early-voting.

Early voting also kicked off in DuPage, Kane, Lake and McHenry counties.