With the presidential election just a week away, nearly 57,000 residents in Chicago’s Black wards have voted, according to a Crusader analysis of data from the Chicago Board of Elections.
As of Tuesday, October 29, approximately 56,990 voters in the city’s Black wards have cast their ballots, public data show. That’s only 10.79 percent of 528,030 voters in the Black wards.
Overall, 287,756 Chicago residents have voted, according to the latest data from the Chicago Board of Elections. About 172,875 residents cast their ballots at precincts during Early Voting and 114,881 residents voted by mail. Election officials said 268,662 Vote by Mail applications have been sent out.
In comparison, during the seven days preceding the November 3, 2020 election, 567,083 ballots were cast. That includes 240,863 ballots cast at Early Voting precincts and 326,220 vote-by-mail ballots, a voting option heavily preferred by voters during the coronavirus pandemic.
This election’s Early Voting started October 3 at just two sites in the Loop. Early Voting expanded October 21 with precincts in Chicago 50 wards.
In Black populated wards, 11 had voter turnout percentages of over 10 percent. As of October 29, the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 29th wards had the highest voter turnout with percentages of over 12 percent.
The 4th Ward, which includes parts of Bronzeville, Washington Park, Woodlawn, Hyde Park and the South Loop, so far has the highest turnout, with over 16 percent or 4,777 voters in that ward casting their ballots.
The 3rd Ward, which includes parts of Bronzeville, Washington Park and Englewood, had the second highest with 13.44 percent or 4,353 residents casting their ballots.
The 5th Ward, which includes parts of Woodlawn, Greater Grand Crossing and South Shore, had the third highest turnout with 12.17 percent or 3,153 voters casting ballots.
In addition to the hotly contested presidential race between Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris and former Republican President Donald Trump, voters in Chicago will help decide the next Cook County State’s Attorney. Incumbent Kim Foxx is not seeking reelection and Democratic candidate Eileen O’Neil Burke and Republican challenger Robert “Bob” Fioretti are seeking to replace her.
Burke won the March 19 Primary against Clayton Harris III in a tight race that was called almost two weeks after the election. She took 27 percent of the Black vote. But her prosecution of a young Black boy in the 1990s has led some Black leaders and the Crusader editorial board to endorse her Republican opponent.
Voters in Chicago for the first time will elect candidates running for 10 district seats on the Chicago School Board. In the 10th District, which largely includes the South Side, Pastor Robert Jones and rapper Che “Rhymefest” Smith and Karin Norington-Reaves are among the five candidates.
The 10th District includes Bronzeville, Kenwood, Hyde Park, Woodlawn, South Shore, Burnside, South Chicago, Riverdale, Calumet Heights, the East Side, Pullman, Hegewisch and South Deering.
Its population is 72 percent Black, 15 percent Latino, 8 percent white and 3 percent Asian, according to Injustice Watch. The district has 89 schools and students in the district are 76 percent Black, 20 percent Latino, 2 percent white and less than 1 percent Asian. Seventy nine percent of students are from low-income backgrounds.
Voters will also decide candidates running for District 1 Cook County Commissioner, Cook County Clerk and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District.
The November ballot also asks voters to decide candidates running for the Illinois House and Senate. Voters will decide whether to retain 79 Circuit Court judges who are also seeking retention.
