Suburban Cook sees 2nd most voters ever

The Cook County Board of Elections says the second highest number of suburban voters in history cast ballots during this year's general election.

Cook County Clerk David Orr announced Wednesday that with 100 percent of precincts reporting, turnout reached more than 1 million. The only presidential election with more voters was in 1992.

Overall, turnout was 72 percent, which Orr says fell short of projections. He says the number may change because 10,000 absentee ballots haven't been returned.

The Associated Press reports there were nearly 5.2 million votes cast statewide in the presidential race, which saw Illinois Sen. Barack Obama take the state's 21 electoral votes.