The Barrington Hills Observer

Antinisha Sturgeon, right, helps her grandfather, Ben Walker, vote during the Illinois primary election on March 19, 2024, at Marshall High School in Chicago. (Vincent Alban/Chicago Tribune)

By The Editorial Board | Chicago Tribune

In many Illinois districts, the primary effectively decides the general election. So what’s likely to happen at the ballot box, knowing that more people show up to vote for president than governor in Illinois, and fewer people vote in primaries than general elections?

As we pored over the numbers for previous off-cycle primaries, we were alarmed to see that over the past four gubernatorial cycles (2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022), roughly 1 in 5 registered voters here decided the outcome.

In raw numbers, here’s how it looks: Illinois had 8,107,797 registered voters in 2022, and only 1,757,872 — less than 22% — of them voted in the primary.

The stump speech that voters — or would-be voters — get about this time of year entails platitudes about exercising rights, not sitting on the sidelines, using your voice and so on. These are fine sentiments, and we have no wish to undermine them. One of the things that makes America, America, is free and fair elections and the protections to back them up. We can vote without fear of intimidation or suppression, and if that’s ever not the case, there are many institutions, including the Tribune, that would demand justice.

So stipulated. But we’d also like to acknowledge other problems keeping folks on the sidelines.

Low turnout reflects badly upon the electorate, yes, but it also reflects poorly on the system itself. In our view, Illinois primaries are effectively decided by a small minority because too many districts are engineered to be safe, too many races go uncontested and too few voters feel their vote matters. When a district is drawn to heavily favor one party, the general election becomes a formality, and the real contest shifts to a low-turnout primary.

Too often, many voters are deprived of meaningful choice at the ballot.

Editorial continues here.