Voter turnout in Chicago was once again high in a presidential election.
As has been the trend since 2000, turnout this year was on track to hover around 70%, said Max Bever, director of public information for Chicago Board of Elections. That means a little more than 1 million eligible voters in Chicago voted on Tuesday or earlier.
“It’s been quite busy out there today, which is different from some of our more sleepy recent elections,” Bever told reporters during a midday news conference. “We always have big turnout for presidential elections.”
Turnout also was expected to be highest among voters ages 25 to 34, Bever said, as was the case during the 2020 race. The next age group with high turnout were residents aged 35-44. Voters ages 18 to 24 saw the lowest turnout. Women were on track to cast the most ballots, according to election board data.
While lines didn’t quite reach the lengths seen at early voting sites, several precincts experienced some long waits.
“Voters might expect a line, that’s the good news and bad news,” Bever said. “The good news is we are seeing people fired up and turning out to vote. The bad news is it’s taking longer and there have been some bottlenecks.”
When making their choice for president, voters told the Sun-Times they were concerned about several issues, including reproductive rights, the economy and immigration. Several residents also said they were excited to vote in Chicago’s first ever school board race.
Danielle Barnes, 36, casted her vote on the Near West Side for both her and her 5-month-old daughter.
“She can’t [vote] yet so I will,” Barnes said.
She said her main concern was bodily autonomy, whether that meant reproductive health or freedom for the LGBTQ+ community. That alone was enough to drive her vote for Harris.
“It should be a woman’s choice what to do with her body,” Barnes said. “A man shouldn’t be able to make that choice for her. … It’s the same thing with the LGBTQ+ community, they should be able to be free to do what they want with their lives. It’s their lives.”
Avondale resident Ellen Cannon has always voted Democrat. But that changed Tuesday when she voted for former Pres. Donald Trump.
“If I knew four years or eight years ago that I would vote for Trump, I’d be shocked,” she said.
Abortion used to be one of her main issues, but she’s disappointed that Democrats didn’t enshrine the right to choose nationally when they had their chances.
Foreign policy was the main reason for her vote.
“I’m fed up with all these wars we’ve gotten into,” Cannon said.
After a decades-long fight for an elected school board, voters got to weigh in for the first time on who will represent them on the Chicago Board of Education.
For mother and Chicago Public Schools teacher Karen Herbert, many aspects of this election feel personal.
Herbert, a West Chatham resident who teaches in Hyde Park, said she’s fortunate her school has what it needs.
But after putting three kids through CPS, she said, “There’s a lack of equity in some of these schools. … A school down the street doesn’t get the resources a North Side or Hyde Park school gets.”
After losing three students to gun violence in 2020, she said she was discouraged and wanted to see better community policing and a fair criminal justice system.
“It hits home when you’re a teacher and also a mother,” Herbert said. “I’ve had to bury three of my students. A lot of our young kids are leaving this Earth way too young.”
Dwayne Roberts is fed up with the infighting pitting Mayor Brandon Johnson and the Chicago Teachers Union against CPS CEO Pedro Martinez. He’s hoping the new school board will provide some necessary checks and balances on Johnson.
“They will have to stand their ground and not get pushed around,” Roberts said.
Sudie Davis III said he cast his ballot Tuesday at Bethany Union Church in Beverly for Harris to “save democracy,” but was mainly focused on the down-ballot races and referendums.
He voted for the non-binding referendum on IVF, and was confident it would pass. While the ballot question is advisory — meaning it won’t create any new laws — it could tell lawmakers more coverage for IVF is something people want.
“I think any parent or aspiring parent should have all the tools they need to get that pregnancy to full term,” he said.
A voter receives their “I Voted!” sticker after casting their ballot in the 2024 presidential election at Mollison Elementary School at 4415 S. King Dr. on the South Side, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024.
Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times