I was disappointed by Lynn Sweet’s analysis of youth turnout in the runoff election. This is not the first time the Sun-Times has mistakenly relied on an age group’s percentage of the overall vote to paint a picture of turnout. In this case, Sweet cited that voters aged 18-24 composed just above 3% of the total vote in both rounds of the election, an admittedly paltry figure.
However, the newspaper should also provide the more nuanced reality: As cited by the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners, turnout in that same age group increased by 32% or over 5,000 votes compared with the primary election. This represented the largest percentage increase among any age group and was third in overall vote increase. The next youngest age group, 25-34, had the second largest percentage jump and top overall vote differential, increasing 24% and over 17,000 votes. In contrast, voters 65 and older cast nearly 10,000 fewer votes in the runoff than the primary, a 5%-10% decrease.
