Almost 28,000 more people took Democrat primary ballots, and 19,000 more people took Republican primary ballots.

In 2012, only 5,281 people voted in the uncontested Democrat Presidential contest; in 2016, 33,857 people voted in the Democrat primary.

As is always the case, there is attrition between the top of the ballot and the bottom.

In the hotly contested Recorder’s race, there were 45,989 votes cast, 15% fewer than in the Republican Presidential race. Still, the number of votes cast in the Recorder’s race increased by 77% between 2012 and 2016.

Phyllis Walters ran unopposed in 2012.

Lots of people don’t vote in uncontested races.

In 2012, 32,822 people voted in the Republican Presidential race versus 54,059 in 2016–a 65% increase.

That means many GOP candidates may have targeted too few potential voters.

We don’t have exact figures yet from the Clerk, but it appears that the number of actual voters voting in the County Board races increased by an average of about 50%.

Final election figures won’t be available until the election canvass, which is held about two weeks after the election to allow absentee ballots dated by at least election day to arrive.

The number of votes for the top candidate increased by an average of 40%.

Below is a comparison of the top vote-getters in each County Board District Republican primary in 2012 and 2016.

Republican McHenry County Board Primary turnouts for 2014 and 2016.