Despite hundreds of closures across Chicago due to the coronavirus pandemic, Illinois' primary election is continuing as scheduled.
Officials have already reported a spike in early voting and mail-in ballots, but issued a last-minute plea for election judges as many across the city dropped out.
"We have to have our elections continue, in my opinion. This is the right thing to do," Pritzker said at his daily coronavirus briefing Monday. "Our democracy needs to go on, we need to elect leaders. If we canceled these elections, you know, when would you have an election, would be a question I might ask. But the most important thing is that we're taking every precaution."
Follow our live updates throughout this Election Day:
9:56 p.m.
State's Attorney Kim Foxx has claimed victory in the Democratic primary, fending off a trio of challengers.
Challenger Bill Conway, her fiercest rival for the post, called her to concede just after 9 p.m., her campaign said.
In another closely watched race, Republican Mark Curran captured the Republican nomination in the U.S. Senate race, and will take on incumbent Senator Dick Durbin in November's election.
He managed to fend off four different candidates in the race.
7:27 p.m.
Former Vice President Joe Biden has won the Illinois Democratic presidential primary, the Associated Press projects.
Chicago Politics
7:21 p.m.
President Trump has won the Illinois Republican Primary as expected, NBC News projects.
7:10 p.m.
In the latest data provided by the Chicago Election Board, nearly 30,000 people cast ballots between 5 and 6 p.m. Tuesday, the highest voting rate of the day.
7 p.m.
Polls have now closed in virtually all Illinois precincts, with some precincts in Chicago and surrounding suburbs remaining open due to earlier problems.
The presidential race between Senator Bernie Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden remains too close to call, although Biden took the first state of the evening as he was projected by NBC News as the winner in the Florida presidential primary.
5:44 p.m.
According to election officials in Chicago, hourly voter turnout is slowly increasing as the city approaches the 7 p.m. hour when polls will close.
According to the latest data released by Chicago Election Board officials, nearly 27,000 voters cast their ballots in the 4 p.m. hour, the highest total of the day.
5:33 p.m.
The Cook County Clerk's Office has announced that polling places in 40 suburban precincts will extend voting until 8 p.m. after polling place changes and late openings, the office said in a statement.
Precincts in numerous cities and villages, including Barrington, Lyons, New Trier and Worth will remain open for an extra hour after a court order mandated that they remain available to voters due to a variety of issues.
For a full list of precincts impacted by the court order, visit the Cook County Clerk's Office's website.
4:30 p.m.
As of 4 p.m., just over 76,000 ballots have been cast in DuPage County, according to election officials. Combined with mail-in and absentee ballots, that adds up to an overall turnout of 18 percent.
4:25 p.m.
Firing back at the Chicago Election Board, Governor J.B. Pritzker refuted the board's claim that he had shut down a request to postpone the election or to move to go to an all mail-in ballot system.
"Not surprisingly, they could not even explain the legal basis for their request," Pritzker said. "Nor could they promise the people of Illinois that the state would be able to hold an election on their suggested date of May 12."
4 p.m:
In a pair of polls conducted by NBC News, primary voters in Illinois expressed their concerns about the effects of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States, and on the state of the American economy.
According to the poll, 53 percent of primary voters in the state are "very concerned" over the effects of the coronavirus outbreak, while 34 percent of voters are "somewhat concerned."
In looking at the economy, 46 percent of voters are "very worried" about current trends, while 36 percent of voters are "somewhat worried."
18 percent of voters are either "not too worried" or "not at all worried," according to the poll."
2 p.m.:
1:45 p.m.:
1:20 p.m.
1:15 p.m.
12 p.m.:
11:30 a.m.:
11 a.m.
The governor's office denies allegations made by the Chicago Board of Elections, saying the governor cannot unilaterally cancel or delay an election.
"Elections are the cornerstone of our democracy and we could not risk confusion and disenfranchisement in the courts. No one is saying this is a perfect solution. We have no perfect solutions at the moment. We only have least bad solutions," his office said in a statement.
10 a.m.:
Chicago Election officials say they wanted to move to a mail-in only model and cancel in person voting in Tuesday’s Illinois Primary, but were rejected by the governor’s office.
9 a.m.
Chicago Board of Elections urges voters to head to their Early Voting location if they experience problems with their polling place.
8:40 a.m.:
8:38 a.m.:
DuPage County Clerk announces that more than 9,800 votes had been cast as of 8 a.m. No additional polling places were closed in the county Tuesday, but 17 closures were previously announced, all of which were relocated to the DuPage County Fairgrounds.
"This morning, the DuPage County Division of Transportation delivered additional stocks of hand sanitizer and cleaning supplies to every polling place in DuPage County," Clerk Jean Kaczmarek said in a statement. "A team of 25 field representatives will be deployed across the County throughout the day to keep polling places restocked with supplies."
8:30 a.m.:
More voting issues reported across the Chicago area.
8 a.m.:
Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough says cleaning supplies being dropped off at all precincts.
7:50 a.m.
Voters report no election judges at Barrington Village Hall. Other issues reported around Cook County.
7:45 a.m.:
Poll workers report health concerns over lack of cleaning supplies at polling locations.
According to Matt Dietrich, spokesman for the Illinois State Board of Elections, "local election authorities are doing their best to address these problems."
7:30 a.m.
Chicago Board of Elections said 50 polling places canceled "very late," leading to some delays in the opening of polling places Tuesday morning.
"We don’t have a clear number of the number of polling places that opened on time and those that have a late opening. We will be getting that shortly," said Marisel Hernandez, chairwoman of the Chicago Board of Elections.
7 a.m.
6 a.m.
Polls opened across Illinois, but with many locations changed across the city and state it's important to know where you should vote. Click here to find your polling place.
