DuPage County to open early voting after delay

DuPage County was set to open up its polls for 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, btu 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.

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. The Chicago Board of Elections was making its final preparations for early voting on Tuesday morning, including testing machines.

The board was planning at 10 a.m. news conference Tuesday at its new voting supersite in the Loop.