Lake County sees record-breaking turnout for April election

WAUKEGAN – Lake County Clerk Anthony Vega officially certified the results of the April 1 consolidated election at 3 p.m. April 21.

The historic election marked Lake County’s first countywide implementation of vote centers, giving voters the freedom to cast their ballot at any site throughout the county on Election Day. More than 15% of Election Day voters took advantage of this flexibility, voting at a location other than their assigned polling place, according to a news release from the Lake County Clerk’s Office.

A total of 75,757 voters cast their ballots across early voting, vote by mail and Election Day, delivering the highest turnout for a consolidated election in 16 years.

Vote by mail participation reached an all-time high in a consolidated election, reinforcing a growing trend toward accessible and flexible voting options.

Since 2023, the Lake County Clerk’s Office has raised compensation for election judges and implemented the newest technology in electronic pollbooks and ballot on-demand printing capabilities. These modernization efforts allowed Lake County to move toward a vote center model that gives voters added choice in casting their ballot on election day while reducing the overall operational footprint.

“We are proud of the strides we’ve made to modernize and simplify the voting process in Lake County,” Vega said in a news release. “This election was a testament to the power of centering the voters’ convenience along with modernizing our election infrastructure. This could not be accomplished without our scores of dedicated election judges, staff and the voters who participate in every election.”

These efforts have resulted in cost savings of about $42,282 in election worker compensation compared with the 2023 consolidated election under the previous election model. In 2023, total election worker compensation was $174,189. This year, election worker compensation was $131,907 – even with increased pay rates of $45 to $85 per judge, depending on the position.

“Modernization leads to improvements, which results in efficient use of resources. My office has worked extremely hard to implement these improvements to strengthen our ability to conduct elections and save taxpayer dollars,” Vega said.

To view the certified election results, including turnout data and ballots cast by method, visit bit.ly/LC-ERP.