Suburban voter turnout in Cook County highest in 20 years

Cook County Clerk David Orr's final report on the Feb. 5 primary confirms what was apparent on Primary Day: Suburban voters turned out in droves.

Orr's office, which oversees elections in all of suburban Cook County, reported Friday that the suburbs' turnout for a presidential primary was the highest in 20 years.

Throughout suburban Cook, 43 percent of registered voters cast ballots, topping the 40 percent turnout in the 1992 primary. This year's turnout was heaviest in Oak Park and Evanston townships, where ballots were cast by 59 percent and 55 percent of registered voters, respectively. Among Northwest suburban townships, the highest turnout was in Wheeling, with 42 percent.

Orr's report gives further evidence, too, of a particularly heavy Democratic turnout in a primary that featured two Democratic presidential hopefuls with Illinois connections: Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

Throughout suburban Cook County, 76 percent of voters cast Democratic ballots and 23 percent cast Republican. Fewer than 1 percent cast Green Party ballots.

Countywide, the only township in which Republican ballots outnumbered Democratic was Barrington, where 2,080 Republican and 1,781 Democratic ballots were cast.

Among voters casting their ballots on Primary Day -- as opposed to voting early -- 61 percent used touch-screen machines while 39 percent chose paper ballots.