SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — Early voting is well underway with five days left before Election Day. Nearly 22% of registered Illinois voters have already cast their ballot.
The Illinois State Board of Elections told WAND News Thursday that 1.8 million Illinoisans have voted early in person and 700,000 people have voted by mail.
"A lot of voters like to vote early," said ISBE spokesperson Matt Dietrich. "They don't want to interrupt their Tuesday rushing out to the polls. So, they do like to vote early but they don't do it extremely early in the period. They'll wait until typically these last five or six days before the election."
Illinois has seen a significant boost in the amount of people voting by mail. Dietrich said many people realized they preferred that option in 2020 and 2022.
"We saw 18% of the total in 2022 cast by mail," Dietrich said. "It will be interesting to see how much that goes up in this cycle."
There is more excitement surrounding this election, and ISBE staff have frequently received calls from people asking how they can register to vote. Leaders expect to see voter turnout surpass the record of 73% in 2020.
"That was the biggest turnout we have seen in a presidential election that we have seen since 1992," Dietrich said. "So, I would expect based on the early voting response so far that we'll hit or perhaps exceed that number."
Dietrich said there are concerns about the physical safety at polling places. Although, he stressed that election judges are trained to deescalate confrontations.
The State Board of Elections expects to see a large number of people voting this weekend as well. Nearly every local election authority has extended hours for people who can't make it to vote early during the week.
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