Peoria-area elections officials say voter turnout for this week’s elections topped typical midterm cycles.
Tazewell County Clerk John Ackerman said turnout there was just above 60% of the county’s registered voters, when a typical non-presidential November election draws between 56-58%.
“So it’s slightly above, but significant enough that it was a very good showing,” said Ackerman, adding that presidential elections usually see 75-78% turnout in Tazewell County.
“For the second major election in a row, we saw strong first-time voter registrations at a high level, people coming out to vote for the first time.”
Peoria County Election Commission executive director Jessily Joseph reported just under 52% turnout.
“We had really, honestly, great turnout for this midterm; I was really pleased with the numbers overall,” she said. “We had higher turnout than the last midterm, but it's not our midterm election with the highest turnout yet.”
Ackerman said while in-person early voting increased by 17%, about two-thirds of the ballots they counted were cast at the polling places on Election Day.
But Joseph said a little more than half of their participation came through early voting and vote-by-mail. That’s a trend she expects will continue.
“Especially because we have a 40-day early voting period,” said Joseph. “I think a lot of folks like to avoid the lines on Election Day, and they just like to check it off their list.”
Ackerman said vote-by-mail in Tazewell County spiked 59% compared to 2022, while in-person early voting jumped 41% from four years ago.
He said he’s not surprised this midterm election cycle saw more voters casting their ballots.
“I think people were passionate about wanting to get out and make their voice heard, one way or the other. People are passionate about issues right now,” he said.
“We didn’t have a contested sheriff’s race or a contested countywide office that would be stealing the headlines. So I think it was just more showing of the citizens themselves wanting to get out and be heard in the process.”
