Early voting gets underway at downtown Chicago supersite

CHICAGO - On a muggy Tuesday morning, early voting for the June 28 primary got underway in the city with a dozen people waiting in line outside the Chicago Board of Elections supersite downtown.

Most of those in line at 191 N. Clark were retirement-age folks eager to take care of their civic duty.

"I wanted to get it off my mind and get it over with," said Martha Roman, 80, who lives in the Lake View neighborhood. "I’ve been watching [political ads] on TV for so long, with all these people contradicting each other."

Marene Smith, 67, of Andersonville, said she was in the hospital during the last Illinois gubernatorial election and was unable to vote. She’s a fan of Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

"I like that he’s got our state budget closest to being in alignment than the previous administration," Smith said.

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Lloyd Bellinger, 68, a South Side resident, said he always remembers to vote.

"I never forget because Blacks didn’t have their rights a long time ago. … They did anything and everything to keep us from voting," said Bellinger.

Early voting in the city was supposed to begin May 19 but was delayed to accommodate late changes to the ballot. Chicago voters may cast a ballot at any early voting site regardless of where they live.

The supersite, which has 71 voting booths and is the city’s largest voting location, is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays; and 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. on election day. Only city residents are eligible to vote at the city sites.

Early voting at sites all across the city begins June 13. For more information, go to chicagoelections.gov.