The Disparity between Presidential and Non-Presidential Elections
May 30, 2023
According to the DuPage Election Division, voter turnout for the 2020 presidential election in DuPage County was 76.6%. For the 2020 general primary, taking place just eight months prior, it was 25.6%. In terms of ballots, that is well over 300,000 people who participated in the presidential election but not the primary.
Clint Brown was an election judge — someone who manages the polling station and maintains the integrity of an election — in the 2023 consolidated election.
“I feel that people, especially young people, may believe that the primaries and other elections are not as important as the presidential election,” Brown said. “It could be by design; I am not sure. Maybe they do not realize that these elections are just as — if not more — important than the presidential.”