Huge Turnout On First Day Of Early Voting In Collar Counties
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Cook County does not start early voting until next month, in part due to the logistics and cost of running nearly 60 locations and a seasonal staff of some 10,000 people.
The counties that started early voting on Thursday saw lines of people waiting hours to vote.
In Lake County, Illinois, early voters like JoAnn Hood put in the time to make sure they are counted and heard.
"I was waiting for this day to come," Hood said.
Many people waited for a while.
"An hour," said Ashley Harpe. "Well worth it."
Darryl Holmes waited even longer than that.
"I got here at 3:35 and I just voted and it's 5 after 5," he said.
"It was a very busy day," said Lake County Clerk Robin O'Connor.
O'Connor said the early voting numbers through day 1 are unlike any other year
"We are going to have at least 350 voters," O'Connor said, "and that supersedes the amount of voters we have had in the past."
On a typical first day, O'Connor said the number of voters would be less than 50.
At the polling place, everyone stood six feet apart. There was plenty of hand sanitizer, and machines were wiped down between votes.
All of these are new additions to the poll this year.
"I just feel like this year, it's very important with like just making sure our voices are heard," Harpe said.
"I'm a retired soldier. I work for the Navy," Holmes said, "and I think this country is in bigger trouble than it's ever been in my lifetime."
In DuPage County, lines wound and wrapped down through the fairgrounds with wait times as long as two hours. The same was true in Kane County.
Back in Lake County, 126,000 mail-in ballots were requested and sent out on Thursday.
Across the state, a record 1.8 million people have requested mail in ballots.
"I think it also says that they are very confident and trust us that we are going to provide them a safe and secure way to vote," O'Connor said.
But some voters are not taking any chances with the mail.
"There's an urgency - definitely wat to get out early and not deal with the mail-in vote issues," Hood said.
The Cook County Clerk's office also said another reason for starting early voting later than some of our smaller counties is due to ballot access lawsuits that sometimes pop up in Chicago.
