Page 19 - Max Bever News Today

Depending on who you ask, the unusual timing of the elections, issues with voters’ access to the polls, and election judges resigning right before polls open all contributed to the low turnout among Chicago and suburban Cook County’s 3.1 million registered voters. 

Tuesday's election, coming just a few days before the Fourth of July holiday weekend, is the latest Illinois has held a primary since at least the Great Depression.

On Tuesday, polling places will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. across the state. Those in line at 7 p.m. are still allowed to fill out their ballots.

Hundreds of local students are helping Chicago voters cast their ballots for the primary election by working as election judges through Mikva Challenge.

“Voters have other issues on their mind, kids are out of school for the summer or they’re planning vacations,” an election official said Thursday about the primaries that were pushed back until June 28 this year.

With only a few days left before the primary election Tuesday, election officials say early voting has been lagging and they are urging Chicagoans to make sure their votes are count.

Due to ongoing effects of the pandemic, 73 precincts across Chicago will be without an election site for the June 28 primary election.

Just three weeks before Election Day, the Chicago Board of Elections says it will not provide normal polling places for more than 100,000 voters.

A new report estimates an additional 111-thousand voter registration applications have been processed at Illinois Secretary of State facilities annually, thanks to a 2018 automatic voter registration law. But advocates say Illinois can — and should — do better.

Chicago aldermen are still negotiating a new ward map that will remain for the next decade. “It is extremely confusing,” said Kate Eakin, volunteer at McKinley Park Development Council. This year’s remapping process is still ongoing due to the 2020 Census showing significant changes in Chicago’s demographics.While Chicago’s Black population dropped 10 percent, its Latino...