Politics
Federal Monitors Present at Some Chicago Polling Locations as Election Day Crowds Cast Their Ballots
Morning voters lineup at a polling location inside Chicago’s Northtown Branch Public Library on Nov. 3, 2026. (Victor Hilitski / WTTW News)
Polls remain open across Chicago until 7 p.m. Tuesday as voters head to the ballot box after weeks of campaign advertisements and outreach efforts ahead of Election Day.
Presidential elections typically drive higher turnout than midterms. However, a combination of factors from the economy to the actions of federal immigration agents have potential to drive more people to the polls in 2026.
Voters will be making choices about a number of important races and referenda including Chicago’s first fully elected school board.
City turnout on Tuesday was closing in on 117,000 voters at 11 a.m., according to a spokesperson from the Chicago Board of Elections.
The spokesperson reported a shortage of ballots at at least one voting location this morning. In the 4th precinct of the 1st Ward, the spokesperson reported voters were using touch screens, and it was slowing down the process. Some voters were sent to nearby locations that were formerly early voting centers.
Voter turnout in suburban Cook County appeared strong, with more than 250,000 residents casting ballots through early voting as of Monday afternoon, according to the Cook County clerk’s office. Nearly 107,000 vote-by-mail ballots had also been returned, with about 11,000 more in the mail.
The presence of federal election monitors from the U.S. Department of Justice were also confirmed by the spokesperson, who said the monitors work in pairs. The Board of Elections had not received any reports about the monitors, according to the spokesperson.
Though previously involved in elections, monitors are one of many ways the Trump administration has ramped up efforts at increasing control of state and local elections.
Figures from the board show that as of Monday night, 211,657 early voting ballots had been cast at the ward and downtown early voting locations across Chicago. There were 109,215 vote-by-mail ballots cast, about 45% of the total, as of Monday. The board reported more than 1,500,000 registered voters in Chicago.
Almost 60 million across the country cast an early ballot or voted by mail before the polls opened today, according to records compiled by the University of Florida Elections Lab. In Illinois, the state board of elections reported more than 1,500,000 early ballots.
Chicago and Cook County election authorities will continue updating turnout numbers as later arriving mail-in ballots are counted.
Mail ballots will be counted if they are postmarked by Election Day or returned to an official ballot drop box by the close of voting. Polls remain open until 7 p.m.
Patty Wetli contributed reporting.
