Thanks to an evening surge in voters, Chicago's unofficial turnout for the 2026 primaries inched over 25%, with the tallying of additional mail-in and provisional ballots likely to boost the numbers even more.

When polls open Tuesday at 6 a.m., voters and poll workers will be greeted with sub-zero wind chills in Chicago. Could the cold have an icy effect on voter turnout?

Poll watching is one part of a broader response network the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights and Asian Americans Advancing Justice Chicago have partnered up to build in order to monitor possible cases of voter intimidation and federal immigration agents near polling places during the primary election. Legal volunteers, field volunteers, local rapid response teams and volunteer hotline operators will also be mobilizing as part of the effort.

Early voting sites opened in all of Chicago’s 50 wards Monday. Early voting also expanded to a total of 55 locations for suburban Cook County residents.

Early voting for the March 17 primary election is now open at the Chicago Board of Elections office, located at 69 W. Washington St. on the 6th floor, and at the new Chicago Board of Elections supersite, located at 137 S. State St.

The proposed non-binding ballot question violates Illinois’ election law, which requires advisory questions to “be confined to one topic and should not contain alternative or bifurcated questions,” the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners unanimously ruled.

On the last day ballots will be counted, unofficial totals in Chicago show where the vote shifted since 2020. Much like the United States, voters in Illinois were driven by factors including economics, immigration and education in the presidential race.

WTTW News reporters are spread out across Chicago covering the 2024 general election. Check back throughout the day for continuous updates on local, state and national races.

Vote-by-mail ballots received over the last few days have not yet been counted; ballots will be processed and tallied on a rolling basis through Nov. 19.

Ahead of the Nov. 5 election, the Chicago Board of Elections released a list of wards and precincts that will receive Limited English Proficiency (LEP) assistance for Election Day.

The Chicago Board of Elections has hired 8,100 election judges to help things go smoothly, spokesman Max Bever said. Many of those judges are students. 

More than 450,000 early vote and vote-by-mail ballots have been cast as of Sunday night for the upcoming presidential election, according to the Chicago Board of Elections. If you plan on voting on Election Day on Tuesday, here’s what you need to know.

“People are realizing Election Day is now right around the corner and now taking advantage of these early voting options to get their civic duty out of the way,” said Max Bever, director of public information at Chicago Board of Elections.

Voters in Chicago and suburban Cook County can look up their voter information online, where voters can verify their voter registration, locate their polling place, view a sample ballot and check the status of a vote-by-mail ballot.

Voter turnout for the March 19 Illinois primary election was 19.07%, the lowest in at least the last 50 years, according to official vote totals certified Friday by state election officials.

Challenger Sharon Waller holds a slight lead over incumbent Daniel “Pogo” Pogorzelski in the race to claim a seat on the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District’s board of commissioners, with more than 100,000 outstanding vote-by-mail ballots still uncounted.