Early Voter Turnout Nearly Doubles In DuPage County In 2022

DUPAGE COUNTY, IL — Close to twice as many DuPage County voters have cast their ballots early for the 2022 general election, when compared to 2018's midterm election, County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek announced Wednesday.

Below are DuPage County's early voting statistics for 2018 two weeks prior to the election, and for 2022 as of Wednesday:

2018

Registered voters: 639,752

Voter turnout 2 weeks before election: 27,915

In-person votes: 15,986

Mail-in votes: 11,929

Turnout percentage: 8 percent

2022

Registered voters: 615,626

Voter turnout as of Oct. 26: 49,177

In-person votes: 12,370

Mail-in votes: 36,807

Turnout percentage: 4.4 percent

“I’m pleased with the numbers, but not surprised,” Kaczmarek said in a statement.

She added, "My top priority as county clerk was to increase voter turnout. To achieve this goal, I had to increase voter access. Promoting mail voting and doubling the number of Early Voting locations has us off to a strong start, and voters also will have the option to Vote Anywhere on Election Day."

The clerk's office attributes the increase, in part, to expanded opportunities for mail-in voting. So far in 2022, the number of mail-in votes has more than doubled over 2018's numbers.

As of Wednesday, more than 82,000 voters had requested to vote by mail, and Kaczmarek is urging voters to submit their mail-in ballots as soon as possible, if they have not done so.

As of Oct. 24, voters were able to cast their ballots at 22 early voting locations throughout DuPage County, twice as many early voting spots as there were in 2018. In 2022, DuPage County is debuting its new paper ballot voting system, which aims to reduce wait times and increase efficiency with setup and shutdown at polling places.

DuPage County also reached a milestone in 2022 by becoming the first county in Illinois to offer a "Vote Anywhere" option.