THE LOOP — Chicagoans have voted in record numbers in early balloting in the Illinois Primary, with the city reporting a "slight increase" from the norm in Republican ballots.
According to data released Monday by Chicago Board of Election Commissioners spokesman Jim Allen, "just under 10 percent" of the city's registered voters have already cast their ballots.
Election officials expect a turnout somewhere between the 53 percent that voted in the 2008 primary, pitting Barack Obama against Hillary Clinton, and the 42 percent that voted in last year's city runoff.
Allen reported a "slight increase" in requests for Republican ballots, 9.6 percent. That's below the high-water mark of 13 percent in 1980, when Ronald Reagan was running for president, although Allen noted that in the 2012 primary, when President Obama ran unopposed on the Democratic side, Republican votes made up 19 percent of the total.
Some 130,328 early votes were cast ahead of Monday's final day of early voting at 14 polling places. The 19th Ward led with 5,282, followed by the 13th Ward, with 4,396, where House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago), the 13th Ward Democratic committeeman, is facing a rare primary challenge from Jason Gonazales.
According to Election Board Chairwoman Marisel Hernandez, about 20,000 mailed ballots have already been received, and the approximately 150,000 early ballots cast are just under 10 percent of the city's 1.5 million-plus registered voters.
"There are significantly more people voting early and voting by mail," Hernandez said.
There are still 14 early voting polling places open Monday ahead of Tuesday's Illinois Primary. Voters can still register at those polling places, with two acceptable forms of identification. Voters can also register and vote Tuesday, although they must do so at their designated polling place found on the chicagoelections.com website.
The city's 1,700 polling places will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday.
"We feel we're very prepared," Hernandez said.
Any voter can select a Republican or Democratic ballot, but not both.
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