More than 84 percent of registered voters didn’t cast a ballot in Aurora on election day Tuesday, despite a historic mayor’s race and many other contests.
Of 64,607 potential voters, just 11,005 ballots cast ballots – equal to 17 percent – through the Aurora Election Commission. The commission handles voters in the city except for those in DuPage County. Aurora voters in DuPage, who are handled through the DuPage Election Commission, had an even lower turnout, 4,108 of 31,253, or 13.1 percent. That makes the overall turnout less than 15.8 percent in Aurora. That’s up slightly from 14 percent in the February primary.
The ballot Tuesday included a historic race for mayor where for the first time a man of color, either a Filipino-American or African-American, would be elected.
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Richard Irvin declared victory Tuesday night in the race to become Aurora’s 57th mayor, but his opponent, Rick Guzman, told the Beacon-News Wednesday morning that he was not conceding.
With all precincts in the city counted, Irvin held the lead over Guzman, according to unofficial vote totals reported by Aurora and DuPage election officials. Irvin had 7,574 votes; Guzman, 7,404, according to unofficial numbers.
In the last contested Aurora mayoral race, in 2009 between three candidates, turnout recorded by the Aurora Election Commission was higher, 20.7 percent. Former Mayor Thomas Weisner won that time, with Irvin coming in second and Stephanie Kifowit in third. However, the consolidated elections in between have seen lower turnouts, with 11.4 percent in 2015, 12.3 percent in 2013 and 9.9 percent in 2011, according to Aurora Election Commission archives.
Aurora Election Commission Executive Director Linda Fechner said she planned for 100 percent turnout Tuesday – they always plan for 100 percent turnout – but couldn’t say she was surprised by the reality.
“I think elections are so important,” Fechner said. “I appreciate every person who voted… We’ll keep on working to get those who didn’t come out to come out.”
Fechner said she wasn’t sure what factors might have contributed to Tuesday’s turnout, and noted that early voting was still improving. More than 1,700 people voted early or by mail through the Aurora Election Commission, according to unofficial results.
In Kane County, Clerk John Cunningham credited a jump in early voting with pushing turnout to what he considers a relatively high percentage for a consolidated election, although still lower than what he’d like it to be. Consolidated turnouts have gradually risen over the years, he said.
Unofficial results indicate turnout Tuesday was 15.67 percent countywide, compared with 13 percent in April 2013, according to Kane County election data. Early voting accounted for close to 10,000 ballots, which is nearly double the number of early ballots from four years ago, Cunningham said.
Cunningham, who lives in Aurora, said it made sense that Aurora’s turnout would exceed the rest of the county’s, considering the highly contested mayoral race. However, turnout within county precincts ranged from 4.4 percent to 49.2 percent.
Using the trickle-down theory, Cunningham said negative campaign tactics have flowed from the top into local races, which can leave a sour taste in the mouths of some prospective voters. Cunningham recalled at least nine negative brochures showing up in his mailbox pertaining to the mayor’s race.
“I think people are worn out with elections,” Cunningham said.
He also noted a decrease of on-the-ground campaigning. While election day used to mean campaign workers going door to door, getting people to vote, that hasn’t been as prevalent lately, Cunningham said.
“Parties do not have the ground game they used to,” Cunningham said.
Campaigns focused on social media outreach could be part of that, he said.
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