While plenty of Galesburg voters have already cast their ballot for the election in almost a week, numbers are significantly down from 2020 levels.
Executive Director of the Galesburg Election Commission Lisa Watson reports to WGIL that as of Thursday nearly 3,500 had already voted between vote-by-mail ballots or voted in person at City Hall.
That’s less than half of the early vote haul in the 2020 election.
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, vote by mail exploded in popularity nationally and locally with vote-by-mail ballots increasing nearly 500 percent in Galesburg from 2016.
But pandemic aside, early voting in person has increased with every Presidential election since 2008.
That streak could be in danger this cycle,
It remains to be seen if this foreshadows a low voter turnout locally but it’s worth noting that voter turnout in Galesburg has stayed around 70 percent for the last four Presidential elections.
Galesburg voters have until Halloween to apply for a vote-by-mail ballot and can vote early at City Hall up until Election Day.
