Early voting in suburban Chicago breaks record

COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS (FOX 32 Chicago) - Suburban Chicago residents are breaking early voting records.

As of Saturday night, 291,446 people in suburban Cook County had voted. That is 62,751 more than the previous record set during the 2012 presidential election.

In Chicago, the previous early voting record was set in November 2008, with 260,378 early ballots cast. This year, Chicago voters have broken that record; 284,506 people have voted already with one day of early voting left.

The Chicago Board of Election Commissioners said that during the six hours the polls were open on Sunday, an average of 3,817 people voted every hour.

Some voters had inspirational reasons for coming in early; others were a little more jaded.

"I want to get it over with. I'm sick of it. Aren't you?" said Frederic Prohov. "It's been the worst campaign I can remember in my life."

Wendy and Scott Epstein brought their kids to a polling place in Wilmette on Saturday.

"We early voted specifically for the kids to come with, because we have to be at work on Tuesday morning but we feel it's really important to vote and it's really important for the kids to see us vote," Scott Epstein said.

"It's a historic election and I especially wanted my daughter to be able to come the first time you could vote for a woman from a major party to be president," Wendy Epstein said.

Early voting continues in Chicago and Cook County through Monday.

There are 52 early voting sites in suburban Cook County, and on Monday, Nov. 7, all will be open from 9 a.m. to at least 5 p.m. Some will be open until 7 p.m. You can find your suburban Cook County polling place at cookcountyclerk.com/EarlyVoting.
 
There are 51 early voting sites in Chicago; one in every ward and a "super site" at 15 West Washington St. in the Loop. They will all be open on Monday, Nov. 7, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. You can find your Chicago polling place at chicagoelections.com/en/early-voting.