Voter turnout comes up short of predictions in La Salle, Bureau, Putnam counties

Voter turnout was strong throughout the Illinois Valley, but county clerks guessed a bit high when predicting voter participation.

La Salle County recorded 70.1% turnout. Bureau County was 69.7%. Putnam County led the pack with 82.2%.

Each figure fell short of what clerks had anticipated, though Bureau County Clerk and Recorder Matt Eggers, who'd projected 70% to 75% turnout, pointed out stray votes still are being counted.

"There's still another couple of hundred ballots to run so it'll be close to 70%," Eggers said. "But I'm not sure what happened. I'm surprised it was as low as it was because of the amount of new voters we had this election."

La Salle County Clerk Jennifer Ebner said she based her prediction of nearly 80% on an influx of newly-registered voters and a slew of questions about the race.

"I just felt like it was going to be a higher turnout than the last time," Ebner said, citing the 74% turnout in 2020.

Putnam County Clerk and Recorder Tina Dolder missed the mark, too.

"I was shooting for 82% (turnout) but now I'm thinking between 86% and 88%," Dolder said prior to Election Day. Her first instinct was right on the money – it was the latter prediction that fell short.

One reason it was tricky to handicap turnout is there were huge disparities in people voted. The La Salle County canvass showed voters in some precincts stormed the polls on Election Day while voters in other precincts preferred to vote early or by mail.

Voters in Osage Township posted the single highest Election Day turnout, with 68.1% of registered voters reporting to the polls on Nov. 5, whereas mail-in and early votes comprised just 13% of the Osage totals.

It was the other way around in Dayton Township. Same-day turnout was 52.7%, but nearly a third of registered Dayton voters cast their ballots early or by mail.