Shockingly low turnout seen across Chicago and state

• But the opposite happened, and Chicago's poor showing contributed to Harris's weak totals across the state compared to President Biden's in 2020.

What they're saying: Heading into Nov. 5 we were on track to match 2016 turnout, but on the day "we did not see the usual surge of voters we see in the early morning and in the final two hours," Max Bever of the Chicago Board of Elections tells Axios.

• "Voters turn out for the candidates and issues that fire them up, and it appears we have matched national and statewide [low] trends."

By the numbers: Just 1,018,359 (67.9%) of Chicago's registered voters cast ballots this month, the second-lowest turnout for a presidential election in 80 years. In 2020, that number was 73.2%.

• Voter turnout across Illinois was 59.6%, down from 72.9% in 2020.

Between the lines: Despite gains by the GOP in many parts of the state, President-elect Trump actually garnered 2,374 fewer Illinois votes in 2024 than he did in 2020.

• But the decline was starker for Democrats. Harris won 415,714 fewer Illinois votes than Biden did in 2020.

The intrigue: You might think hosting a Democratic National Convention would spark more local interest in voting, but data shows just the opposite.

• The only worse turnout in the last 80 years came in 1996 when Chicago previously hosted the DNC.