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* Your observations so far today? Any hijinks?
* Statewide…
The Illinois State Board of Elections has updated its early voting totals, according to Illinois Election Data.
About 2.3 million votes by mail were requested and about 1.8 million have been returned, leaving 521,045 that are outstanding for a return rate of 78 percent.
Nearly 3.8 million voted early all together in Illinois.
* Chicago…
Chicago Board of Elections spokesman Jim Allen said 29,500 ballots were cast in the first hour of voting Tuesday. As of just before 11 a.m., 916,423 ballots had been cast either in-person or by mail.
Though some polling locations did report delayed openings, Allen said none will require precincts to remain open late.
While several issues remain under investigation from the board, Allen did provide some details on a few reported incidents in the. city.
Several voters reported that sharpies were bleeding through ballots, but Allen said one bleed-through on the front will not hit a target on the back. He acknowledged the need for some scanners to be replaced and the occasional equipment issue to be fixed.
…Adding… I’m hearing now from an attorney involved in this that the Sharpie pens are actually spoiling some ballots. Heckuva job, Chicago Board of Elections.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Some are half-jokingly calling this “Sharpiegate.” It’s not a problem everywhere, but it is causing issues in some areas when the markings bleed through to the back. Making matters worse is that, as always, every judge is handling things differently, and that’s creating confusion.
*** UPDATE 2 *** This is easier said than done…
Biggest age group of voters today is 25-34-yr-olds.
Allen says poll workers have gotten instructions on how to handle sharpie bleed-thru, which "wasn't a huge problem, just a scattered issue here and there."
— Alex Nitkin (@AlexNitkin) November 3, 2020
* Suburban Cook…
According to officials, 87,000 voters have cast a ballot today in suburban Cook County. Already, 430,000 mail-in ballots have returned in suburban Cook County.
* DuPage County as of noon…
11-3-2020 NOON
65% Voter Turnout
70,509 Voters Today
424,398 Voters Total
190,688 Early Voters*
163,201 Verified Mail Voters
652,895 Registered VotersEarly Voting Location Voters
2008 – 96,369
2012 – 78,561
2016 – 108,902
2018 – 89,665
2020 – 190,688* (9-24-2020 – 11-2-2020)*In previous elections, early voting location voter statistics did not include “in-person absentee”.
Vote by Mail Applicants
2016 – 32,126
2018 – 42,338
2020 – 212,816Historic General Election Voter Turnout
2016 Turnout – 70.6% Ballots Cast – 434,050 Registered Voters – 614,752
2012 Turnout – 71.4% Ballots Cast – 400,601 Registered Voters – 560,718
2008 Turnout – 76.3% Ballots Cast – 420,397 Registered Voters – 551,280
2004 Turnout – 76.1% Ballots Cast – 404,117 Registered Voters – 530,732
2000 Turnout – 76.5% Ballots Cast – 369,300 Registered Voters – 482,789
Some good stuff in those links, so check ‘em out.
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 12:45 pm
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Our church here in SW Springfield has voting for 3 prevents. Just drove by it a little while ago. Usually a light steady stream; parking lot was fuller than normal but no line out the door. Didn’t stop and go in. But I would say a bit heavier than normal. My son who also votes there walked right in and voted in mid-morning.
Comment by RNUG Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 12:51 pm
darn autocorrect … precinct
Comment by RNUG Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 12:53 pm
Is there any data on ‘who’ voted early this year compared to 2016 - age, race, gender, party registration, zip-code, etc.? It looks like some states provide some cursory information but haven’t seen anything for Illinois.
Comment by 1st Ward Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 1:09 pm
Voted this morning at my polling place on West Washington St., in Springfield. No problems. As a protection against spreading COVID, in lieu of “I voted” stickers, they give you a special pen and you get to keep it after casting your ballot.
Comment by Nick Name Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 1:12 pm
I voted around noon in my small town. Both precincts vote in the same place. A judge told me that they were already at 80% total votes compared to 2016.
Comment by G'Kar Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 1:15 pm
Cast my ballot in oak park around 1230. No line. Beautiful fall day.
Comment by AlfondoGonz Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 1:25 pm
I just voted. The Sharpie pens were a big mistake. Doesn’t matter how lightly you fill in the circles, everything bleeds through to the other side. The machine accepted mine properly though, so fingers crossed this doesn’t spoil more than a handful.
Anyone who has ever used a Sharpie could tell you that using those on this type of paper ballot was a really dumb thing to do.
Comment by 47th Ward Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 1:47 pm
47th Ward, I had the same experience with my mail-in ballot, noticing it after I had filled in about 3 or 4 circles. Glad to hear yours didn’t ping back that it was ruined, because I was worried about the same thing.
Comment by jabes Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 1:53 pm
Voted in Suburban Cook this morning. Steady stream, but no line. The electronic ballot then prints a paper ballot, which needs to get initialed by the election judge and then fed into a scanner. They offered no covering for the ballot while they initialed. Slightly off-putting to be flashing your selections to an election judge. Also, just odd to have to print then scan your ballot. Wasn’t electronic voting supposed to streamline that?
Comment by CookR Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 2:01 pm
Optical scan ballots are designed to pick up target areas a.k.a. ovals/square. When ballots are designed, the target areas on one side of the ballot will not overlap the target areas on the other side of the ballot, So any bleed through is not a problem effecting your voting.
Comment by Vote Mechanic Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 2:08 pm
Update:
Just received a call after my brother went in to vote. People working the precinct wanted to talk to me. Apparently they screwed up collecting my ballot. I’d explain how, but it’s just too stupid.
Comment by AlfondoGonz Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 2:08 pm
Cast my ballot around lunchtime at a church in eastern Decatur. No line, got in-and-out within 5 minutes. Two judges weren’t wearing face coverings and milling about, and a few more were wearing masks below their nose while handing out ballots to residents. Fairly disheartening if not unexpected.
Comment by Treefiddy Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 2:31 pm
Pollwatching this morning. Touched base at quite at multiple precincts in rural downstate area. Big turnout early.
One minor trend I noticed was people bringing in their mail-in ballot because it was too confusing to figure out. (I helped my college-attending kids with theirs and I completely understand.) They all got new ballots and voted in person.
Comment by Pot calling kettle Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 2:33 pm
Had the same issue with the Sharpie. Bled through the backside of ballot and ended up being pretty close to a couple of the backside answer sections. Talked to the poll worker to make sure it was ok. We fed the ballot through machine together and it was accepted. A lady at my polling place had issues with the sharpie and was creating a scene.
Comment by sharpie Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 2:46 pm
My precinct has 587 registered voters (Madison County), 272 voted early (46%), 154 cast ballots as of 2:00 P.M. No long lines. County clerk predicting 80% turnout. No watchers. Everybody friendly and cooperative. We also had the I Voted pens. Lots of masks, sanitizer, wipes.
Comment by Nitemayor Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 3:17 pm
On this evidence we’re not going to be hitting the 1983 mayoral turnout numbers that were hinted at. It took Chicago seven and a half hours simply to log an extra 200,000 votes on top of the mail-in and early total. But the young voter turnout is pretty impressive.
Comment by Angry Chicagoan Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 3:25 pm
=They offered no covering for the ballot while they initialed.=
They’re supposed to. When I voted, I was given one of those big thin cardboard folders in which to put my ballot. In fact, when I mistakenly started to hand the judge my ballot “naked”, she reminded me to use the folder.
Comment by JoanP Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 3:56 pm
The sharpie thing has been clear for weeks with the ballots. I was shocked to see sharpies at the polling place today after I saw so many mail-in ballots ruined by sharpies.
Comment by Ok Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 4:10 pm
Absolutely correct! The Sharpie pens are spoiling ballots as the ink leaks through causing blots on the the paper ballots.
Comment by Practical Politics Tuesday, Nov 3, 20 @ 4:35 pm