As Early Voting Wraps Up Monday, Polls Already Seeing Record Numbers
CHICAGO (CBS) -- As candidates hit the ground running to make their final push on the eve of Election Day, voting already is proving very popular in the Chicago area, with a record number of people voting early.
For the first time ever in a general election, early voting sites in Chicago and suburban Cook County will be open on the day before the election.
In west suburban Oak Park, there are more than 20 different voting stations, and most have been filled most days, with many people lined up waiting for their chance to cast a ballot.
At Chicago's early voting super site in the Loop – which has more than 100 touchscreen voting machines – the line to get in stretched around the block Monday morning.
In the city of Chicago, more than 260,000 ballots already have been cast; and in suburban Cook County, more than 290,000 ballots have been cast. Those are both records for early voting.
"No matter what the results are tomorrow night – hopefully they are tomorrow night – the real winner, I believe, has been early voting. Early voting as of this morning already broke significant records in suburban Cook County," Cook County Clerk David Orr said.
All 50 wards in Chicago have an early voting site, in addition to the supersite at 15 W. Washington St. All sites are open until 7 p.m. Monday.
Suburban Cook County has 52 voting locations, all open until at least 5 p.m., with a few open as late as 7 p.m.
