Will County voter turnout on Tuesday at just over 15%

It was a quiet day at the Will County polls on Tuesday with just over 15% of voters coming out to the polls for the consolidated election.

In all, 70,254 ballots were cast Tuesday out of 453,563 registered voters in the county.

The Will County election fraud hotline was quiet, too.

Scott Pyles, assistant state’s attorney, said mid-afternoon on Tuesday he didn’t anticipate a surge in hotline activity in the evening either.

“[Any election irregularity] typically doesn’t happen at night,” Pyles said.

But Pyles said he also “wasn’t expecting too much” at a consolidated general election.

“Our teams were out but they weren’t reporting anything unusual,” Pyles said. “We’re in good shape.”

Will County Clerk Annette Parker said late afternoon on Tuesday that Election Day ran smoothly overall.

“The polls all opened on time and people are voting,” Parker said and later added, “To me, it seems turnout in-person, day of voting seems to be a little low. On the flip side, I feel like the early voting is increased.”

Parker said that as of 4:40 p.m. Tuesday, 32,173 people – or approximately 7% of Will County’s 453,563 registered voters – had voted in person on Election Day.

In addition, 17,192 ballots were cast through in-person early voting ahead of Tuesday’s election, Parker said.

The Will County Clerk’s Office had also received 14,724 mail-in ballots as of Tuesday. Parker said 48,450 people had requested mail-in ballots for Tuesday’s election.

Total votes for Tuesday’s election – including early voting, Election Day voting at the polls and mail-in ballots – were 64,089 for 14% by 4:40 p.m., Parker said.

“To me, it seems turnout in-person, day of voting seems to be a little low. On the flip side, I feel like the early voting is increased.”

—  Annette Parker, Will County clerk

Parker said mail-in ballots “normally trickle in heavily” the day after the election and for a few days after that. But the clerk’s office might receive a larger amount this year, Parker said.

That’s because the primary consolidated election on Feb. 25 wasn’t certified until March 12, Parker said.

“What that means is we weren’t able to print the ballots for the consolidated election until after March 12,” Parker said. “Many ballots didn’t get mailed out until March 17.”

In a typical election, vote-by-mail ballots are mailed out 40 days before election day, Parker said. This year, they were mailed out just two weeks before the election.

“So they may come in more so because of the quick turnaround,” Parker said.

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A person walks inside Messiah Lutheran Church in Joliet, on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. Messiah Lutheran Church served as a polling place on Tuesday. (Denise Unland)