Early Voting by the Numbers in Evanston: 12,677 Ballots Cast Through Thursday, and the Busiest Day Is Still to Come
Evanston's early vote is running at twice the March primary's in-person pace, according to a count built from the Cook County Clerk's lists — 7,371 ballots in person and 5,306 by mail through Thursday, with nearly 6,000 requested mail ballots still out.
Evanston voters are casting early ballots at a pace well beyond the spring primary. Through Thursday, Oct. 29, a total of 12,677 Evanston voters had cast ballots for the Nov. 3 election — 7,371 in person and 5,306 by mail — according to the Evanston Voter Guide's count of the Cook County Clerk's early-voting and vote-by-mail lists.
The in-person side of the count is where the surge shows. Evanston voters cast 7,277 early in-person ballots in the first 11 days of voting, Oct. 19 through 29, twice the 3,535 who voted in person in the first 11 days before the March 17 primary. Most of them went to one place: 6,744 of the in-person voters cast their ballots at the Robert Crown Community Center at 1801 Main St.
One number election officials will be watching is the mail pile still out. As of Oct. 29, 5,978 mail ballots requested by Evanston voters had not come back, and the Clerk's office lists drop box locations for voters who would rather return them in person. Early voting at Robert Crown runs through Monday, Nov. 2 — 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on the final day — and if March is any guide, that last day will be the busiest of the period: 1,354 Evanston voters came in on the final day in March.
