Voter turnout Tuesday from Rockford and Winnebago County to Peoria and Springfield was lower than four years ago during the last presidential election.
Although Election Day was busy as former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris faced off for president, the number and percentage of voters who showed up fell below expectations, said Ryan Brauns, chairman of the Rockford Board of Election Commission.
“It seems like turnout is down everywhere, but then the swing states and places with hot races were up,” Brauns said. “I don’t know if it’s the fact that Illinois isn’t in play, or if we didn’t have as much on our local ballot and a lot of unopposed races.”
Here’s a look at the numbers according to unofficial results.
Rockford, population 146,120
2020
Registered voters: 89,049
Turnout: 55,815, 62.3%
2024
Registered voters: 92,131
Turnout: 50,617, 55%
Winnebago County, population 280,922
2020
Registered voters: 94,329
Turnout: 73,080, 77.5%
2024
Registered voters: 93,149
Turnout: 68,907, 74%
Peoria County, population 177,513
2020
Registered voters: 117,380
Turnout: 85,167, 73%
2024
Registered voters: 117,217
Turnout: 78,891, 67%
Sangamon County, population 193,491
2020
Registered voters: 140,667
Turnout: 106,037, 75%
2024
Registered voters: 139,246
Attendance: 100,219, 72%
Galesburg, population 29,130
2020
Registered voters: 18,054
Attendance: 12,579, 70%
2024
Registered voters: 17,394
Turnout: 11,477, 66%
Knox County, population 48,411
2020
Registered voters: 15,323
Turnout: 10,822, 71%
2024
Registered voters: 14,656
Turnout: 10,646, 73%
Stephenson County, population 43,105
2020
Registered voters: 33,376
Turnout: 22,251, 67%
2024
Registered voters: 27,504
Turnout: 21,158, 77%
Livingston County, population 35,320
2020
Registered voters: 22,044
Turnout: 17,334, 79%
2024
Registered voters: 21,847
Turnout: 16,591, 76%
Jeff Kolkey writes about government, economic development and other issues for the Rockford Register Star. He can be reached at (815) 987-1374, via email at jkolkey@rrstar.com and at @jeffkolkey.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: From Rockford to Peoria, more voters stayed home on Election Day
