Chicago voters had cast more than 250,000 ballots by midday on March 17, with turnout reflecting a continued shift toward early voting and mail-in ballots, according to Max Bever, spokesperson for the Chicago Board of Elections.
The trend toward early voting has led to a relatively quiet Election Day at polling places across the city. Bever said that by noon, about 16 percent of Chicago’s 1.55 million registered voters had participated in the election through a combination of early voting and vote-by-mail options.
“What we’re seeing right now is a bit of a slower Election Day,” Bever said during a call with reporters. “A lot of voters are getting more comfortable with early voting and voting by mail.”
Early voting totals leading up to Tuesday’s primary resembled those from higher-turnout cycles, while in-person turnout was closer to the lower participation seen in June 2022 when the primary was delayed due to census data issues related to the pandemic. Officials expect overall turnout to fall between those benchmarks; about 22 percent voted in the 2022 primary compared to nearly 33 percent in 2018.
The final turnout figure will not be available for weeks because ballots postmarked by Election Day can be counted through March 31. Despite several high-profile races on the ballot, officials attributed modest turnout partly to the nature of primaries where voters must select a party ballot.
Election Day saw minor disruptions: eleven precincts opened late but were operational shortly after, and no polling places are expected to stay open past their scheduled closing time. A ballot scanner malfunctioned temporarily at one South Side location but was fixed later; affected ballots will be properly counted. State Rep. La Shawn K. Ford reported being incorrectly marked as having already voted at his West Side polling place but was eventually able to cast his ballot after waiting about forty minutes.
Bever described the day as “safe” and “smooth”—and even “a bit boring,” which he called a welcome change from previous years’ chaos. He noted that voter activity typically increases between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., saying, “We’re seeing similar numbers of voters overall—they’re just choosing to vote earlier in the process.”
