Youth voter turnout didn’t see any huge changes in northern Illinois...for the most part.
Youth voters between ages 18 and 35 typically make up about 10 to 13 percent of the ballots cast in the U.S. Those statistics still apply within the northern part of the state for the last general election in November. DeKalb County’s youth voters made up about 15 percent of the total ballots cast in the county. Winnebago County’s young voters made up only about one percent of the total.
Robert Saar is Executive Director of the DuPage County Election Commission. He says the group’s voting participation tends to vary wildly.
Saar says young adults historically don’t cast their ballots like the older crowd, and the highest youth voter turnout he’s ever seen within DuPage County was during the 2008 presidential election. He said if the numbers were to rise in that group, it would change politics forever.
Saar thinks developing online voting from a tablet or computer is inevitable once the Millennial generation ages.
"It's not a pipe dream, it's real, and people are getting their equipment certified by the federal government."
Saar is working with the state to make mail-in ballots more accessible and sent to your door every election like in California or Colorado.
Youth Voting By County, Sorted By Voter Turnout Overall*
Source: Illinois State Board of Elections
1. Putnam – 62.10% Overall, 11.80% Youth (2,635 ballots cast overall, 311 youth ballots cast)
2. Grundy – 55.08%, 13.21% Youth (16,577 overall, 2,189 youth)
3. Bureau – 53.10%, 10.88% Youth (12,913 overall, 1,406 youth)
4. Livingston – 53.10%, 10.52% Youth (11,309 overall, 1,190 youth)
5. LaSalle – 52.83%, 10.60% Youth (35, 677 overall, 3,782 youth)
6. Marshall – 52.10%, 9.89% Youth (4,296 overall, 425 youth)
7. Ogle – 51.01%, 10.48% Youth (17,267 overall, 1,810 youth)
8. Jo Daviess – 50.03%, 6.51% Youth (7,894 overall, 514 youth)
9. Carroll – 49.55%, 8.26% Youth (5,668 overall, 468 youth)
10. Lee – 49.01%, 10.57% Youth (11,437 overall, 1,209 youth)
11. Winnebago – 48.94%, 0.97% Youth (430,388 overall, 4,194 youth)
12. DeKalb – 48.54%, 14.80% Youth (28,389 overall, 4,201 youth)
13. DuPage – 48.50%, 12.80% Youth (284,795 overall, 36,458 youth)
14. Boone – 48.01%, 10.75% Youth (15,380 overall, 1,654 youth)
15. Kendall – 47.94%, 13.73% Youth (31,199 overall, 4,283 youth)
16. Whiteside – 47.49%, 8.56% Youth (17,814 overall, 1,525 youth)
17. Kane – 46.61%, 10.52% Youth (106,141 overall, 11,166 youth)
*These numbers are unofficial.