DuPage County opens early voting after delay
DuPage County opened up its polls for early voting in the 2026 primary on Tuesday after a snag.
Early voting in the county west of Chicago was delayed five days because of a dispute over names on the ballot.
Many other counties in the greater Chicago area — including Lake, McHenry, and Kankakee — fired up their polling machines last Thursday.
MORE: Early voting dates, locations for Chicago and surrounding counties
A spokesperson for the DuPage County Clerk's office said his team expected to start early voting last Thursday too, but decided to tread carefully due to two ongoing court cases.
DuPage even waited to share sample ballots, which are now available on the clerk's website.
The delay centered around races for governor and the 11th Congressional District. Gubernatorial hopeful Joseph Severino is among the candidates not listed on the Republican primary ballot after allegations that he did not qualify.
Severino initially thanked DuPage for putting the brakes on early voting, but then encouraged people to avoid the polls for now, because his court case apparently will not be resolved until later this month.
Severino also asked a judge to allow his name to appear on the ballot while he appeals a court order to keep him off. The motion was denied this past Friday, and the DuPage County Clerk decided to move forward with printing ballots.
Neither Severino nor 11th Congressional District candidate Tedora Brown appears under available selections for the Republican primary in DuPage County.
Both names did appear on a sample ballot for Kane County. CBS News has an inquiry out to the county clerk there as to why.
Of course, the DuPage County Clerk encourages early voting, especially for anyone who is busy on actual primary day, March 17.
Polls will be open at the following five locations in DuPage from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays, including Presidents' Day, as well as 9 a.m. to noon on Saturdays:
- Addison Township Office, Main Hall, 401 N. Addison Rd., Addison
- Bartlett Community Center, Program Room 5, 700 S. Bartlett Rd., Bartlett
- Downers Grove Village Hall, Cheever Chambers (back end), 850 Curtiss St., Downers Grove
- DuPage County Fairgrounds, Building 5, 2015 Manchester Rd., Wheaton
- Naperville Municipal Center, Meeting Rooms A and B, 400 S. Eagle St., Naperville.
Voters in Chicago will get their turn to head to the polls early in about 48 hours.
Early voting will be available beginning Thursday, Feb. 12, at two locations in the Loop — the George W. Dunne Cook County Office Building at 69 W. Washington St., and a new downtown supersite at 137 S. State St., at Adams Street.
The Chicago Board of Elections was making its final preparations for early voting on Tuesday morning, including testing machines.
"Once those tests are complete, all the machines are locked up with a seal," said Chicago Board of Elections spokesman Max Bever. "That's a very important part of this protection and transparency process, because if that seal is ever broken, that machine is taken from the floor and ultimately taken out of service."
Early voting expands to all 50 Chicago wards on March 2. Chicagoans are allowed to vote at any open polling place in the city, no matter where they live.