DuPage County Sees Lowest Overall Voter Turnout in Consolidated Election History

resident Karen Hughes, 39, said she feels it's her civic duty to get in the ballot box on election day.

But local voter turnout results on Tuesday show not everyone feels that way. At 16.4 percent, DuPage County saw the fewest number of voters in its consolidated election history, said Doreen Nelson, assistant executive director for the DuPage County Elections Commission. Results in Will County came in at about 18 percent—level with elections in 2009 and 2007, said Will County Circuit Clerk Nancy Schultz Voots.

"If we knew the magic answer of why people aren't voting, we'd certainly be able to produce a better result," Nelson said Wednesday. "After two straight election years of 20 (percent turnout), I figured we'd at least hit 20 this time. Nope."

The portion of Naperville that falls within DuPage County's borders saw a 20.3 percent turnout, Nelson noted. Voots didn't have specifics about those Naperville voters in her county because she had not broken down results that way, she said.

"We saw pretty much the same as what we had been seeing," she said. "I was predicting 20. I'm always hoping that it's going to be a little higher. I'm just optimistic."

The turnouts discussed Wednesday were still technically preliminary. Official election results take weeks to process.

"We're counting our provisional and grace period ballots April 19," Voots said. "These numbers also don't include absentee ballots that were postmarked by midnight April 4, so they might come up."

Election judges were noticing the lower than usual turnout throughout Tuesday. Dave Hilbert, who was stationed at 95th Street Library, said his day was extremely slow.

After 4 p.m., Precinct 22, which covers Wheatland Township, had 35 votes, or about a 5 percent turnout, Hilbert said.

Nelson said when she looked at the numbers, she "didn't know whether to scream or cry."

"I can't laugh, that's for sure," she said. "The truth of the matter is that people are down and out, complaining about the economy not getting better. And the people who got elected yesterday are the ones who'll be hitting their pocketbooks the hardest. They are who is deciding what the real estate taxes will be. Yet the complainers didn't come out to decide who will be having their hands in the money."

The highest turnout for any consolidated election in DuPage County was in 1989 when 34.2 percent showed up to cast their ballots.

One of those voters was likely Hughes, who vows to never miss the chance to have her say.

"Too many sacrifices have been made for the right to vote," she said Tuesday, after voting at the Alfred Rubin Riverwalk community center with her nearly 2-year-old son. "… This is what being a citizen is all about."

Official results are expected by April 26, election officials said.

Naperville Patch Local Editor Mary Ann Lopez contributed to this report.