More than 400,000 ballots have already been cast in the city of Chicago, but those numbers are lagging behind vote tallies from the COVID-affected 2020 election cycle.
According to figures released by the Chicago Board of Elections on Saturday night, a total of 424,077 ballots have been cast in the election so far. Of those, 272,194 were cast at early voting sites, while 151,883 were cast via mail-in ballots.
Those numbers are lagging behind 2020, especially among those who cast their ballots via the mail. By the final Saturday before Election Day, 382,052 mail-in ballots had been submitted, with this year’s totals marking a 60.2% decrease in that category.
Early voting was also more popular during the COVID year, with 330,467 ballots having been cast at sites by the final Saturday of the campaign cycle.
Overall, the city is reporting a decrease of approximately 40.5% in ballots cast in the final days of early voting.
The numbers for this year are still far superior to those from 2016, with a 25.4% increase in the number of voters casting ballots at early voting sites or via mail-in ballots.
Monday marks the final day of early voting at the 50 ward sites around the city of Chicago. The city’s supersite at 191 North Clark and the Chicago Board of Elections’ office at 69 West Washington will also be open on Monday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
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The two supersites will not be open on Election Day, but the 50 early voting sites in the city’s wards will be during the standard open hours for polling places on the final day of balloting, from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Note: This story previously said ward-based voting locations would not be open Monday. This has been corrected.
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In DuPage County, a total of 251,894 ballots have already been submitted, more than half of the total number of ballots cast during the 2020 election cycle in the county, according to officials.
In Cook County, a total of 387,970 ballots have been cast so far in this year’s election. In the 2020 election, 432,448 ballots were cast early, according to Board of Elections data.
