Early voting delayed until February 21 in Chicago

From a press release issued yesterday by the Chicago Board of Elections:

Although Feb. 8, 2018 was the new statutory starting date for Early Voting, there remain ongoing cases involving objections to candidates’ petitions. As a result, ballots are not ready, and the programming and testing of voting equipment cannot be completed by Feb. 8. The Board of Election Commissioners anticipates that balloting systems will be fully tested and available by Feb. 21, if not sooner.

Objections to certain countywide and statewide candidates’ nominating petitions were resolved recently or still are being resolved. Programming and testing of the equipment in the city’s more than 1,000 ballot variations in four languages is still under way.

The Board will update the Early Voting schedule at chicagoelections.com as soon as possible. Any voters who arrive at the Chicago Election Board to use Early Voting in the meantime will be provided with an application to Vote By Mail. Chicago voters also may apply online to Vote By Mail at chicagoelections.com.

When in-person Early Voting begins, the program will be offered:

• Through March 4 only at the Chicago Election Board annex at 16 W. Adams St.
• From March 5 through March 19, at 51 sites across the city.

This year marks the second time that Early Voting was scheduled to begin 40 days before a Primary Election. A similar delayed start to Early Voting occurred for the same reasons ahead of the 2016 Primary Election. Before 2016, Early Voting began 15-22 days before Election Day.