Illinois early votes already more than half 2016 turnout; polling officials say they’re ready for next COVID-19 test

We’ve already seen record early voting. For those who wait till Tuesday, it will be a distinctly 2020 polling experience thanks to the coronavirus pandemic.

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Voters wait at the Dr. Martin Luther King Center Service Center in Bronzeville.

Voters wait at the Dr. Martin Luther King Center Service Center in Bronzeville.

Ashlee Rezin Garcia / Sun-Times

Complete coverage of the local and national primary and general election, including results, analysis and voter resources to keep Chicago voters informed.

New pandemic precautions are being put to the test. 

Chicago’s big stadiums are opening up for residents to throw their support behind candidates instead of sports teams. 

Mayor Lori Lightfoot has the police preparing for a worst-case scenario of citywide unrest.

But the most radical part of this election unlike any other might already be more than halfway over — for Illinois voters anyway.

That’s because, as of Friday, more than 3 million Illinois voters had cast their ballots — with four days remaining before Tuesday’s election. That represents about 53% of the nearly 5.7 million total voters in 2016. 

With COVID-19 looming over everything, just under half of Illinois’ ballots so far have been cast in person at early-voting sites. The rest have come via mail, and piles more are still coming in. 

Almost 832,000 mail-in votes were still outstanding statewide and will be counted as long as they’re postmarked by Nov. 3, according to the Illinois State Board of Elections. 

Chicago is smashing its early-voting record, set earlier this year when the state got its first coronavirus election crash course. 

Almost 1.6 million Chicagoans are registered to vote, and more than 40% of them — close to 644,000 — already had done so by Friday. And that’s with about 143,000 ballots that still could be mailed in. 

Voting authorities process ballots early, but they’ll all be counted on Election Day — and with a heated presidential contest at stake, officials are expecting high in-person turnout on the big day, too. 

“Given the enthusiasm of this particular election, I do see more voters using the polling places on Election Day more than the primary,” said Marisel Hernandez, chair of the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. 

For those who wait till Tuesday, it’ll be a distinctly 2020 polling experience. The first wave of the pandemic gripped the state just days ahead of the March election, and “we are much much better prepared this time around,” Hernandez said. 

“It was just an eye-opener that something can happen so huge that no one ever expected, and that would wipe out our ordinary customs,” said Edmund Michalowski, Cook County’s deputy clerk for elections.

So, as at grocery stores, banks and most other public places these days, polling places will be marked off for social distancing, with alcohol-wipe disinfectant and hand sanitizer aplenty. 

Voters are urged to wear masks, though that’s not required. Maskless voters who decline offered masks are to be directed to a separate polling area.

But so far in Chicago, “There have been very very few voters who do not wish to follow the guidelines,” Hernandez said. 

Voters can also expect to see younger election judges guiding them through the process, following a massive recruitment effort to enlist folks who are younger than 60 — and thus less vulnerable to COVID-19. As a result, city and county officials say they have a surplus of potential judges on deck to avoid the thousands of last minute cancellations and closings that plagued some polling places in March. 

Voters can vote at an expanded list of “super sites” open to all suburban Cook County residents, including Union Station, the clerk’s office in the Loop and at suburban courthouses. 

And any Chicago voter has the option of voting in person at the United Center on Election Day. They also can deposit mail ballots in secure-drop boxes set up at Wrigley Field and Guaranteed Rate Field.

As for the viewing experience at home on Tuesday night, the onslaught of mail ballots nationwide means it could be days or weeks before results of the presidential election are finalized. 

Chicago and Cook County authorities say it’ll be business as usual on their end. They’ll be reporting results as they come in, but they never formally finalize results anyway until two weeks after elections, to allow time for counting mailed-in ballots. 

“People need to be patient,” Michalowski said. 

Lightfoot and police Supt. David Brown say they’re ready if people do get impatient — or worse. 

With political tensions running high — and President Donald Trump declining to say whether he’ll accept the results of the election — police presence will be bolstered in many of the neighborhood corridors that were hit by waves of civil unrest over the summer. 

“We need to de-escalate from this long, difficult year,” Lightfoot said. “There may be some people — win or lose — who are unhappy with the results. But we have to honor those results.”

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