2016 Cook County, Illinois, elections

Voter turnout in Cook County during the primaries was 51.12%, with 1,512,348 ballots cast. Among these, 1,197,073 Democratic, 314,517 Republican, 404 Green, and 354 nonpartisan primary ballots were cast. The city of Chicago saw 53.52% turnout. Suburban Cook County saw 48.61% turnout, its highest turnout for presidential primaries since at least 1992.[3][4][5] In Chicago, more than 118,000 votes cast were early votes, setting a record for the time for Chicago primaries (since surpassed by the 2020 elections).[6] In suburban Cook County, 31,409 mail-in ballots were returned by voters, setting a record (also surpassed in 2020).[7]

The general election saw 71.54% turnout, with 2,205,504 ballots cast. Chicago saw 71.04% turnout and suburban Cook County saw 72.07% turnout.[8][9]

No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Republican primary.[2]

Incumbent second-term member Dan Patlak, a Republican, was reelected. Patlak was last reelected in 2012. This election was to a four-year term.[12]

No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Democratic primary.[2] The Democrats ultimately nominated Marty Stack.

Incumbent member Michael Cabonargi, a Democrat first appointed in 2011 and elected to a full term in 2012, was reelected, running unopposed in both the Democratic primary and general election. This election was to a two-year term.[12]

No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Republican primary.[2]

Three six-year term seats were up for the regularly-scheduled election. Since three six-year seats were up for election, voters could vote for up to three candidates, and the top-three finishers would win.

Two of the incumbents for the three seats were seeking reelection, Barbara McGowan and Mariyana Spyropoulos, both Democrats.[13] Each won reelection. The third, newly elected, winner of the general election was fellow Democrat Josina Morita.

No candidates, ballot-certified or formal write-in, ran in the Republican primary.[2]

A special election was held to fill the seat vacated when Patrick Daley Thompson resigned to assume office as a Chicago alderman.[14] This seat had been filled with an interim appointment by Governor Bruce Rauner of David J. Walsh.[15] Walsh was a Republican.[16]

A ballot question was referred by the Cook County Board of Commissioners to the voters of Cook County as to whether the position of Cook County Recorder of Deeds should be eliminated, and its duties merged into the position Cook County Clerk. Voters ultimately approved the ballot question.

The sponsor of the legislation passed by the Cook County Board of Commissioners which created the ballot question was John Fritchey.[18] The legislation to create this ballot question passed unanimously in a vote of all seventeen members of the Board of Commissioners.[18]

The last time the county had voted by referendum on whether to eliminate an elected office was in 1972, when voters strongly voted in favor of eliminating the elected position of Cook County Coroner, replacing it with an appointed medical examiner.[19]

The ballot measure asked the question,

Shall the Office of the Cook County Recorder of Deeds be eliminated and all duties and responsibilities of the Office of the Cook County Recorder of Deeds be transferred to, and assumed by, the Office of the Cook County Clerk by December 7, 2020?[20]

A ballot question was created by a successful citizen initiative petition which asked Cook County voters whether they believed that Illinois should enact the Earned Sick Time for Employees Act, thus allowing Illinois workers to earn up to 40 hours of paid sick leave.[21]

The ballot measure asked the question,

Shall Illinois enact the Earned Sick Time for Employees Act which will allow Illinois workers to earn up to 40 hours of sick time a year to take care of their own health or a family member's health?[21]