More Than 400,000 in Chicago Return Vote-by-mail Ballots

On the eve of Election Day, early voting in Illinois ended at 7 p.m. Monday with record numbers of ballots cast

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As of 8 p.m. Monday, 419,549 vote-by-mail ballots had been returned, the Chicago Board of Elections announced Tuesday.

As of 6 p.m. Monday, 364,649 Chicago residents had voted early, in person, at all locations since Oct. 1, the board said in a statement.

On the eve of Election Day, early voting in Illinois ended at 7 p.m. Monday with record numbers of ballots cast.

The city of Chicago saw record early voting this year, with more than 738,000 residents casting votes via mail-in ballot or in-person voting in the days ahead of Election Day.

“Early turnout has been incredible. We’re so excited so many Chicagoans are exercising their right to vote,” Chicago Board of Elections Chairwoman Marisel Hernandez said.

At the state level, nearly 3.6 million votes have already been cast, with more than 1.76 million ballots mailed in to election authorities. Both of those are records, according to state election officials. The state has also set a record for registered voters, with more than 8.3 million residents having registered to vote in the current election.

Even if those interested in voting aren’t registered, they can still cast ballots. Under Illinois law, those interested in voting can go to their polling place on Election Day for same-day registration.

For those residents who have mail-in ballots that they were unable to return, they can bring those ballots to their polling places for drop-off on Election Day.

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