Nearly 730K Chicagoans cast their ballot by noon after voters began lining up before dawn on Election Day

Around 5:30 a.m., Hayet Rida, a 35-year-old who lives in the Loop and became a U.S. citizen last week, was waiting in a line with about two dozen other voters outside of the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners’ Super Site Tuesday.

“I’ve lived here for 17 years, and I feel like all the laws and stuff applied to me, but I’ve never had a say in anything, so to me, (voting) was a big deal,” Rida said near the corner of North Clark Street and West Lake Street.

About half an hour later, thanks to the help of about 8,000 election judges and other poll workers, nearly a thousand voting locations opened across the city. Chicago residents can vote at their assigned precinct polling place or at any of the 51 vote centers across the city. All locations will close at 7 p.m.

By noon, nearly 730,000 Chicagoans — or about 48% of registered voters in the city — had cast their ballots, according to the Chicago Board of Elections. Chicagoans ages 25 to 34 have cast the most ballots so far, with just over 152,000, according to the elections board. Women have cast about 406,000 ballots, and men have cast about 320,000.

Max Bever, public information director at the election board, said the city is on track for a 70% voter turnout, the typical participation rate in Chicago for presidential elections. He also noted that the high turnout, coupled with a longer ballot which generally takes 10 to 15 minutes to complete, has led to long lines at some polling places.

“It’s been quite busy out there, which is a difference in comparison to some of our more sleepy election days as of past,” Bever said, adding he hoped the rain wouldn’t discourage people from voting.

Pre-Election Day weekend and the eve of the election saw massive lines in parts of Chicago and the suburbs. Marisel Hernandez, chair of the election board, encouraged people to vote during the middle of the day, when there is not much wait time or no wait time at all. Chicago residents can find out more about the election on Chicago Board of Election Commissioners’ website.

“This is the big presidential election where we routinely see over 1 million registered voters cast their ballots,” Hernandez said. “Many voters have waited until this day to vote, so there may be some lines, and we urge everyone to have patience and show some kindness.”

Aidan Graham, 24, of Lakeview, was also waiting in line outside the Super Site before it opened. He said he tried to vote yesterday but didn’t want to wait in a two-hour long line. Graham wasn’t bothered by Tuesday’s rain because he brought an umbrella to help him perform his civic duty.

“I think trying to get your voice heard is probably a good thing,” Graham said.

Hernandez said more than 300,000 Chicagoans voted early, including about 36,000 on Monday. The city had more than 265,000 vote by mail applications and about half of those have been returned, Hernandez said.

Rida, the new U.S. citizen, said she has been eagerly waiting for Election Day and wanted to be the first in line. But even arriving a half an hour before polls opened, she was about 10th.

Rida, who is from Ghana, said the two issues on her mind were women’s rights and immigration.

“I think immigration will always be big because that applies to me, and I have friends and family who are also being affected by immigration laws,” Rida said.

Later in the morning, at a boathouse along the South Branch of the Chicago River in Bridgeport, Valeria Rivera voted because she’s worried about human rights.

“I voted today because I am terrified about the state of democracy,” the 39-year-old said. She said she’s especially worried about the president’s power to appoint Supreme Court justices.

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Rivera, who lives in Bridgeport and works in the financial services industry, said she thought her vote could cancel out a “red” vote. In regard to local issues, Rivera said she was happy she had the chance to help shape the city’s school board.

Vicky Beck, 29, of Bridgeport, cast a ballot at the boathouse shortly after Rivera. As a gay woman, Beck thought her vote could help preserve the rights she currently has in the U.S. The economy was another top issue for Beck.

“I feel like I couldn’t not vote,” Beck said.

Meanwhile, in Champaign County, voting systems were completely down for a while countywide because issues with their voter registration vendor, said Matt Dietrich, a spokesman for the Illinois State Board of Elections.

More than 25 other jurisdictions around the state use the same vendor, Platinum Technology Resource, but the problem was especially urgent for Champaign County because it operates all its polling places as vote centers where voters from anywhere in the county can vote and ballots are printed on demand, Dietrich also said.

“They had no printed ballots and no way to access their electronic pollbooks,” he said of Champaign County. “Other counties that use Platinum had at least some printed ballots for voters in their polling places so they were able to open and operate normally.”

This isn’t the first time Champaign County has had problems with its voting processes on Election Day. During the 2022 general election, some parts of the county had problems with the voting system running slowly, causing lines to back up.

Despite hiccups, Gov. JB Pritzker released a statement saying he was “proud of the work…put into the election.”

“Elections matter and we are making sure that we have the infrastructure here in Illinois to get that message out to voters – from the top of the ticket all the way down the ballot,” he said. “Tonight, as we await the results, I hope every Illinoisan who knocked doors, made phone calls, got friends and family to vote, and maybe even ran for office themselves is proud of the work they put into this election. Their dedication will make a difference in the future of Illinois and this country.”