SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – One state election official says it might be hard to say what turnout will be overall for today’s primary election.
For one, Illinois State Board of Elections spokesperson Matt Dietrich says, the primary being in June, instead of March — but, that’s not all.
“You have a Democratic incumbent as Governor, and you have a fairly large field of candidates on the Republican side for the Governor’s race. In 2014, that really drove Republican turnout, and it also kept down Democratic turnout,” said Dietrich.
Overall, turnout typically for a primary election statewide has been about 27 percent. Dietrich says a turnout that high is possible, because of the sheer number of local and statewide contested races.
“What’s different this year, though, is that we also do have a highly-contested Secretary of State race — which is going to be competitive for Democrats and Republicans,” said Dietrich. “You also have some Congressional races on both sides — Democrats and Republicans — that we don’t know how it’s going to affect overall turnout.
Prior to Monday, the total number of mail-in and early voting ballots cast was 394,000, a little lower than four years ago.
Polls are open until 7:00 p.m. Tuesday.
