Lake County - Old.White.Voters.

There, I said it. We all know it's true. Here are some numbers to ponder from our 150k registered voters...numbers rounded

Voters over 60 = 59,200

Voters 40-59 = 46,300

Voters 26-39 = 31,300

Voters 18-25 = 13,500

Recent census data shows Lake County's median age is 43.9 yrs. And those over 65 are 20% of the population yet they make up about 40% of the registered voters. And they VOTE. Of the 59k over 60, 39k have voted in the last 3 elections.

The adult population in Lake County is about 180k. Generally speaking, a large percentage are registered to vote. BUT only 67k of the 150k registered vote consistently.

Between 2010 and 2020 the diversity in the county has grown, a little. White non-hispanic population is now at 86% down from 90%. The Hispanic and African-American populations have each increased from 3% to 5%. Hardly a boom of diversity in the county.

One small way to reverse this trend is to ensure the young adults heading off to college maintain their registration here in Lake County. Too many either don't register or register in the college towns for convenience. But that impacts us here at home. If you have college age students, encourage them to register in their home county and vote absentee. Either by paper ballot or when they are home during early voting.