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Election judges at the one DeKalb County polling place that accepts voters from all DeKalb County precincts had seen about 40 voters just before 10 a.m. on Tuesday for the 2026 primary election.

Cindy Henderson was one of the two election judges working the polling place located inside the DeKalb County Administrative Building’s Conference Room East at 9:45 a.m.

“We’ve had a nice, steady stream,” Henderson said about the morning turnout for the primary election.

Tuesday’s election presented DeKalb County voters with little, if any, choices for local primary races. And primary races have historically seen low voter turnout.

Some voters chose between candidates for a contested Democratic primary race for one 2-year DeKalb County Board seat. A small percentage faced a tax levy increase referendum question for the Hinckley Fire Protection District. DeKalb city voters could choose between two Republican candidates to face off against incumbent Democrat state Rep. Amy “Murri” Briel in Ilinois House District 70.

Contested primaries pitted Democrats and Republicans in some bigger races, too: including for Illinois governor, who will replace longtime Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin’s U.S. Senate seat, who will face off against incumbent U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood, D-Naperville, for her congressional seat in November.

And just because a race isn’t contested in the primary doesn’t mean it won’t be in November: Parties still have the option to put forward a candidate on the November ballot if there’s no one else running.

DeKalb County Clerk and Recorder Tasha Sims, whose office is tasked with administering the elections, said she estimates about 2,400 people had voted in person in the primary as of 2 p.m. on Tuesday.

She said she thinks wintry weather impacted the number of morning voters that election judges saw. Blizzard-like conditions Sunday into Monday still impacted area roads early Tuesday morning, as blowing wind made for icy driving conditions.

“Slow start to begin with due to the roads, and just people getting out of the house from yesterday’s storm and the roads,” Sims said. “But since the sun’s out today, it seems to be – I would say slow but steady. I say people kind of come in waves."

Primary voter turnout historically low, data shows

In the 2026 primary, voters can pull a Democrat or a Republican ballot that will decide who has the backing of the two parties in the 2026 midterm general election on Nov. 6.

Only one DeKalb County-specific race has a competitive primary. Two Democrats, Daniel Vantilburg and Devon Wilcox, are vying for the party’s nomination for a DeKalb County Board District 5 seat.

Several races for party nominations to the U.S. House of Representatives, with districts that include parts of DeKalb County, are also competitive, according to the Shaw Local March 2026 primary election guide.

In June 2022 – the last general election primary held during a midterm – 14,777 of 59,417 eligible DeKalb County voters participated, according to local election data. Of those voters, 8,930 pulled Republican ballots, and 5,642 pulled Democrat ballots.

Similar data for the 2026 primary election won’t be available until after the polls close Tuesday night. That data has been brought to the DeKalb County Legislative Center for tabulation, however. Clerk and recorder’s office documents show there are 67,483 registered voters in DeKalb County.

Sims said primary elections before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 typically saw voter turnout in the double digits. The 2022 primary election saw about 8% of voters participate. Sims said he wasn’t certain the 2026 turnout would be better.

“My goal is, I really always hope we get into the double digits in the percentages because anything lower than 10% is just really hard,” Sims said. “Regardless, no matter the turnout, we just want to make sure that we get every voter that wants to participate to come and vote.”

The results of Tuesday’s election, like in 2022, will include mail-in and early voting ballots.

Henderson, an election judge for the past 10 years, said early voting, which was held at five sites across DeKalb County, “was pretty steady as well.”

About 2,500 mail-in and early voting ballots had been received by DeKalb County election officials, Sims said.

The results of early voting ballots, as well as mail-in ballots, were expected to be among the first uploaded to the county’s election results portal Tuesday night.

Sims said encrypted jump drives – something she calls an “election stick” – containing data from those ballots are ready to be tabulated. However, those ballots likely won’t get tabulated until an election stick from another precinct arrives at the DeKalb County legislative center after polls close.

“We usually wait for the first couple of precincts to come in and then we do our first upload,” Sims said. “That will include those [early voting and vote-by-mail ballots].”

Terrilynn Morris, an election judge for the past 20 years, also described the flow of voters at the Sycamore polling place as steady.

“For a primary, it’s pretty good,” Morris said.

She thinks weather, such as rain, snow, or cold temperatures, can affect voter turnout, but said she wasn’t sure whether Tuesday’s weather significantly impacted voters.

When asked what the community should understand about elections, Morris said, “Primaries are just as important as the generals.”

Henderson shared a similar sentiment.

“Every election counts, whether it’s primary or general,” Henderson said. “To vote is a privilege in the United States, and I think everybody should take advantage of it.”