Early voting light, but still more than two years ago

The number of early voters in the suburbs has increased compared to local elections two years ago, but pales in comparison to those who turned out for the presidential election six months ago.

Figures from suburban Cook, DuPage, Lake, Kane and McHenry counties show slightly more than 2 percent of registered voters already have cast a ballot. Close to 20 percent of registered voters went to the polls early during the November election.

"We did better than we expected this time, but the presidential election was so huge we're just thrilled people took advantage of the opportunity to vote early and continued the upward trend," said Linda Mitchell, elections director at the Kane County Clerk's office.

In 2007, more than 3,700 people voted early during the spring municipal elections in Kane compared to the 6,037 early voters this time.

Doreen Nelson, DuPage County Election Commission assistant executive director, was expecting a higher early voting turnout this spring because of how popular the option was during the presidential race. With 10,316 votes already cast, early voting was up 57 percent from the 2007 municipal election in DuPage, she said.

Nelson estimates it cost about $120,000 to stage early voting in DuPage for this election, which translates to $11.63 for every early voter.

She said total voter turnout in Tuesday's election will be smaller than what the commission saw during the presidential race - likely 20 percent to 23 percent depending on the weather. The presidential race drew nearly 75 percent of the county's registered voters to the polls.

"I don't know why that is," Nelson said. "These are the people who are spending their tax dollars."

It's a similar story throughout the suburbs. Only a little more than 25,000 of suburban Cook County's nearly 1.5 million registered voters took advantage of early voting.

"Historically, these consolidated elections have much smaller turnouts," said Courtney Greve, a spokeswoman at the Cook County Clerk's office.

Lake County saw the highest early voting turnout of any of the collar counties with nearly 4 percent of the registered voters showing up.

"From the beginning we've had more than just about anywhere else," said Lake County Clerk Willard Helander. "We've pushed it and when you push it you have a snowball effect that the candidates have even picked up on."

Conversely, less than 1 percent of McHenry County's registered voters cast early ballots, election officials reported.

Few early birds

Percentage of registered voters in the suburbs who cast an early ballot ahead of Tuesday's election.

Lake County: 3.9 percent

Kane County: 2.8 percent

DuPage County: 1.89 percent

Suburban Cook County: 1.75 percent

McHenry County: 0.87 percent

Source: Election commissions