Early Voting Begins For Chicago Mayoral, Aldermanic Elections
CHICAGO (CBS/AP) -- Early voting is set to begin for Chicago's municipal election, including the mayor's race.
Early voting starts Monday at 51 locations in Chicago. The Chicago Board of Election Commissioners says each site also will offer voter registration. The election is Feb. 24.
Sites will be open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Five sites will be open on Sunday, Feb. 15 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Last November, officials experimented with Election Day registration and voters were at the County Building until the early morning hours. Election Board Chairman Langdon Neal says that is not happening this time.
"You cannot register to vote on Election Day, meaning February 24. If you are not registered, you need to do so between today and February 21 at an early voting site," Neal said.
So what kind of turnout does he expect?
"Four years ago we had a 42 percent turnout, eight years ago we had about a 33 percent turnout," Neal said. "I would hope that we would be somewhere within that range."
Voters need a government-issued photo ID to cast a ballot. Voters can use any site in the city regardless of their address.
Election board officials say voters who need to change their name or address or those registering to vote for the first time need to have two forms of ID. At least one must have the voter's current address.
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