Expect Late Start To Early Voting In Chicago
(WBBM Newsradio) -- Election officials say the start of early voting is likely to be delayed in the city of Chicago.
Chicago Board of Elections spokesman Jim Allen said many challenges are in progress and cannot be resolved by Thursday of next week, when early voting is scheduled to begin.
"There was a statewide candidate who was just ruled off the ballot today," he tells WBBM Newsradio's Bob Roberts.
That's Democrat Scott Drury in the attorney general's race, and Allen said attorneys for Drury intend to appeal.
"There are a lot of moving parts right now and it makes it impossible to test and program all of the equipment and get it set up to run on the 8th," he says.
Allen says the election board will divulge more details Monday, but adds those trying to vote right away will be given applications for mail ballots.
He said Chicago's election board faced the same problem in 2016. The state law governing election challenges and mandating early voting 40 days before an election are on a collision course, Allen says.
It is unclear what the effect will be statewide, but Allen says in Chicago the problem is especially acute. Not only does the city election board have to program machines for each precinct -- it has to do so in half a dozen languages.
Illinois State Board of Elections spokesman Matt Dietrich said decisions regarding early voting are up to each election authority.
