Number of Registered Voters in Chicago Lowest Since WW II

Barack Obama Voting In Chicago,
November 2008

According to today's online edition of the Chicago Tribune, the number of that city's registered voters has bottomed out at 1.28 million. That figure represents the lowest number of registered voters in the Windy City since the months after America's entry into World War II.

The story did not note the number of "dead" voters for which Chicago is famous. My guess is that number has increased.

Of course, Chicago election behavior has been characterized, not always tongue-in-cheek, as "vote early and often." While Chicago hardly has the monopoly on "questionable" voting patterns (the Florida GOP's "dangling chad" vote in the 2000 Bush-Gore presidential election offers competition), the city still has the feel of politics of a century ago, when "vote early and often" was a national pastime.