Overview
- The Board confirmed a coding error in its ballot-quantity program caused some split precincts to receive too many of one ballot style and too few of another, creating shortages at certain polling places.
- The misallocation produced long lines and hours-long waits at multiple sites during Tuesday’s voting, with voters and poll workers reporting shortages in neighborhoods including Uptown, Pilsen, Logan Square, Albany Park and the Near West Side.
- Once the problem was discovered, the Board began printing and delivering extra paper ballots, sent additional electronic voting machines to affected sites and kept polls open late so everyone in line could vote.
- The Board’s IT department has deployed automated validation checks intended to catch similar errors before ballots are printed, and a formal investigation is underway to determine how many precincts were actually affected.
- High early voting this year raised baseline demand in Chicago, where 491 of 1,291 precincts are split precincts, and officials will finalize results within the 21-day window while facing public oversight including a Nov. 9 budget committee hearing.