Some Chicago Area Voters Grapple With Huge Lines & Ballot Problems

By Stephen Gossett in News on Nov 8, 2016 4:13PM

Photo: Padraig McCoid

By Stephen Gossett and Rachel Cromidas

Updated 2:00 p.m.: When do you need to show ID before you vote, and when are you good to go without one? Get the answer here.

It was a tale of two very different voting experiences on Election Day in Chicago on Tuesday. Some lines were virtually nonexistent on Tuesday morning and the process glided along smoothly for voters; others encountered hour-plus waits and ballot issues, including incomplete ballots and confounded poll workers.

“The line was longer than I’ve ever seen,” Padraig McCoid, who waited nearly an hour to vote, told Chicagoist. “In 2008, I was in and out. In 2012, I waited three or four minutes to vote.” Padraig, who voted at Alden Lincoln Park Rehab, in Lakeview, also said he received a text from a friend who was at a nearby polling place where that line was out the door.

The wait time at McCoid’s poll was a bit shorter after he voted, approximately 30 to 35 minutes, officials told the line. McCoid said it was "absolutely" worth the wait.

Nick Libert arrived at his polling place at 6:15 a.m. to a huge line, which stretched around the corner, at Agassiz Elementary School, also in Lakeview. But well-organized officials kept the queue in motion, he said. “The line went very fast,” Libert told Chicagoist. “Three precincts were voting at once, and the poll workers very friendly.”

Libert shared video of the huge, snaking line:

This is the 6:15 am line to #vote at Agassiz elementary in #Chicago -YES you will wait in line just as our forefathers stood the picket lines & fought on the front lines to do so. It's THAT important, especially this year. 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

A video posted by Nick Libert (@nicklibert) on Nov 8, 2016 at 4:26am PST

Bryan Hearn told Chicagoist he waited an hour and 15 minutes to vote at the 44th Ward's District 5 polling place at Wellington and Pine Grove this morning. "Voting is important to me so I decided it was worth the wait," he said.

Jared Sagoff, 31, of Lincoln Park, told Chicagoist he waited nearly 90 minutes to vote this morning at the Lincoln Park Library.

"The line didn't look absurdly long at the beginning, maybe 40 to 45 people, but I spent over an hour just in line waiting to vote," he said. "It was inspiring because this was the first time I'd seen this kind of turnout."

Sagoff said some of the delay was probably caused by confusion among the poll workers over what documents voters needed to show before voting. Sagoff also said it was important to him to stay in line and finish voting despite the unexpectedly long wait.

"I have a workplace that understands that voting is important and that this is an essential part of what it means to be American and have a functional democracy," he said. "I feel all elections are important, but this one especially so in terms of protecting the values I believe in and working to ensure a just, equitable society. I spent part of the weekend going to Wisconsin to do Get Out The Vote in Kenosha, so I would have been a hypocrite to encourage other people to vote if I didn't end up voting myself."

Some Chicagoans have also reported problems with their electronic or paper ballots Tuesday morning. A 26-year-old Rogers Park woman (who requested anonymity) told Chicagoist that she initially did not receive the second page of her paper ballot when she went to vote around 6 a.m.

"After completing my ballot, I realized that some of the measures I'd read up on weren't on it. I went back to the man who had given [the ballot] to me and, after eventually getting his attention, asked, 'Wasn't there supposed to be a Lockbox Amendment on this, for Illinois?'" she said. "He looked at me blankly and finally a guy next to him said 'There's a second page' and handed it to me. The first guy said, 'Well I didn't know.'"

The woman completed her ballot, and then called the Department of Justice to report the problem at her polling site. She said it was unclear whether any other voters at her site did not receive their full ballots either.

A West Side woman who voted electronically at the Greater Youth Center at 3679 W. Grand Ave. told Chicagoist she couldn't vote for more than the first three races on the ballot because of problems with her voting machine. She said she and a poll worker contacted the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners to report the problem, but because she had already selected "cast ballot," it was too late to fix the problem for her.

"Because the ballot is already cast, I can't vote the remaining races," she said. "Lesson learned, ask for help sooner next time."

We're far from the only city with long lines to the polls this morning; check out our sister site Gothamist's coverage of New York City's lines here.