Early voting turnout in Chicago trails behind 2020 pace thus far
CHICAGO (CBS) – While turnout has been strong in the City of Chicago during the closing days of the 2024 election season, voting is still lagging behind 2020 numbers.
Still, at many voting sites on Sunday, long lines amassed as residents tried to take advantage of early voting.
So far, more than 424,000 ballots, both from early in-person voting and vote-by-mail, have been received by the city's Board of Elections, a little less than 300,000 fewer ballots than the same time four years ago in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A Board of Elections spokesperson said some early voting sites are seeing higher foot traffic than others and a lot of that had to do with their location. Those sites near the lakefront tend to get more traffic as they are closer to public transit stops.
CBS News Chicago heard from some voters around town who waited in line for up to three hours to cast their vote.
The city has publicized its "Vote Anywhere" program which allows a voter experiencing long lines at their regular voting location to go to another location to cast their ballot.
With such a pivotal election, voters like 95-year-old Phillip Boasman from River North didn't let the long lines deter him from voting.
When asked what kind of change he's looking for in this election, Boasman said, "Equality, fairness, mostly."
Early voting starts up again on Monday at 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. at polling locations, and some sites will have expanded hours on Election Day.