Here’s why that early voting line was so long

Hundreds of thousands of Chicagoans already have voted in the election — flocking to early voting sites or dropping their ballots in the mail.

And at some early polling places, voters have waited hours to cast their ballot.

“We are seeing some long lines,” said Max Bever, director of public information for the Chicago Board of Elections. “A good number of locations are bottlenecked today, and some places over the weekend had upwards of three-hour long waits.”

One reason for the long lines: Only one early voting site is open in each of the city’s 50 wards. On Election Day, thousands of precincts will be open. Early voters also tend to go to the nearest locations, or those in locations they are most familiar with. The downtown super site also has been busy, but with 72 voting machines, the line moves much faster.

The most popular voting sites are along or near the lakefront and on the North Side, areas more accessible by public transit. Voting sites farther west aren’t seeing long lines, Bever said.

“I’ve never waited this long in line for something, not even Disney,” Ray Arroyo said Monday afternoon outside the Wicker Park/Bucktown Library. He had been there for an hour and a half, and still hadn’t made it inside the building.

Slowing things down further is the longer, two-page ballot, thanks to all the judges up for retention. It’s taking 10 to 15 minutes for people to fill out their ballots, Bever said.

“We’re budgeted for only so many sites and staff,” he said. “And they’re working hard to get people in as quickly as possible.”

While people are likely accustomed to voting at their assigned precinct or in their ward, voters can head to any early voting site in the city to vote before Election Day.

“So if you’re experiencing a long line at one location, you can go to another that might not be as busy,” Bever said.

If people aren’t able to make it out Monday, the ward sites and the super site also will be open on Election Day. Those locations likely will have shorter lines on Tuesday, since voters are more likely to cast their ballots in their assigned polling place in their local precinct, Bever said. All voting locations are open Tuesday from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.

“If you can make it out tomorrow, there will be less of a line,” Bever said. “It’s more spread out for the big day.”

Chicago generally has a strong voter turnout in presidential years, with over 70% of eligible voters consistently hitting the polls since the 2000 election, Bever said. This year, that would mean about a million people voting in the city.

The Board of Elections expects the same level of turnout this year. About 160,000 ballots have been mailed in, out of 267,000 sent out, Bever said. Add to that the nearly 300,000 early votes cast as of Sunday night.

Voting by mail gets more popular each election, Bever said. The pandemic radically changed voting behavior, with half a million mail-in ballots sent out for the 2020 presidential election. While some residents have returned to vote in person on Election Day, voting by mail continues to gain in popularity.

“If you’re waiting in a line for an hour at a library and you’re seeing someone come in with a vote-by-mail ballot and just drop it off, you might be more inclined to vote by mail next time,” Bever said.

The Wicker Park/Bucktown Library has been one of the city’s most popular early voting sites. And Monday afternoon was no different — the line to vote wrapped from the second floor of the library branch, down the stairs, out the door, around the corner and down two blocks.

Some voters came prepared with books and folding chairs. They told the Sun-Times it was their civic duty to stick it out.

Eleanor Reich was about halfway through the line. She lives near the library, so she’d seen how long the lines have been at the site. She brought a folding chair to stay comfortable as she waited.

“It’s important to get out and vote,” Reich said. “More and more, I’m focused on the local elections because that’s what makes more of a difference, like with the school board race.”

After this election, Reich said, she’s voting by mail.