More than 700,000 ballots cast, turnout highest in over 25 years
Chicago, IL-(ENEWSPF)- Cook County Clerk David Orr’s office has certified official March 15, 2016 Presidential Primary Election results for suburban Cook County to the Illinois State Board of Elections. The results, in addition to a combined summary of election results from suburban Cook County and the city of Chicago, are now available online, atcookcountyclerk.com.
“The popularity of initiatives such as online voter registration, Election Day Registration and registration and voting for 17-year-olds, proves there is a great desire by voters to take part in the electoral process,” Orr said. “We look to build on this success and look for more initiatives that continue to open up access to the vote and to make registration and voting easier.”
This election broke many records for a Presidential Primary election, including: Early Voting turnout, overall turnout, number of mail ballots returned, and number of registered voters.
- It was the first presidential election to include Election Day Registration and registration and voting by 17-year-olds who will be 18 by the General Election. Both programs proved very popular with Cook County voters.
- Voting before Election Day – by mail, or during early voting and grace period voting – accounted for 22 percent of all ballots cast in this election.
Tuesday, April 5 was the deadline for county clerks to certify their election results to the Illinois State Board of Elections, which in turn certifies statewide results by Friday, April 15.
With all ballots counted, suburban Cook County turnout climbed more than from 47.9 percent to 48.6 percent, thanks to late-arriving mail ballots and provisional ballots.
Suburban Cook County – Presidential Primary Election Turnout
| Year | Registered Voters | Ballots Cast | Percent Turnout |
| 1992 | 1,185,460 | 476,517 | 40.2% |
| 1996 | 1,216,588 | 309,772 | 25.5% |
| 2000 | 1,219,409 | 282,041 | 23.1% |
| 2004 | 1,295,632 | 406,115 | 31.3% |
| 2008 | 1,350,580 | 585,449 | 43.3% |
| 2012 | 1,394,649 | 329,537 | 23.6% |
| 2016 | 1,443,261 | 701,525 | 48.6% |
Suburban Cook County election results can be viewed online or with this PDF. Please note the download feature allows you to open an Excel document with precinct and township data by contest.
