Voters looking to avoid long lines cast their ballots Thursday morning in the Loop as early voting opened for the Illinois primary election.
Kamilah Banks-Word didn’t want to wait to vote, so she stopped by the new voting supersite at 137 S. State St. on her way to work.
“Voting makes a difference in terms of how our society runs,” said Banks-Word, 47. “I think a lot of us are not aware of how important the primary and midterm elections are. Most people just vote for the presidency, and we see how that turned out.”
Banks-Word, of the South Loop, said she was voting to protect people’s rights across the country and wanted everyone to feel safe wherever they are.
“Everything’s at stake at this point,” she said. “We’ve seen how everything has been going downhill, how people are being harassed by different political groups and law enforcement agents.”
Banks-Word wasn’t the only one encouraged to vote because of the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement campaign, which has sent hundreds of federal agents into cities across the country — including Chicago.
In early December, the Department of Homeland Security said at least 4,400 people had been detained during Operation Midway Blitz, the Chicago area campaign.
Erick El, of Uptown, hadn’t voted in years but felt it was time to do something to overturn elected officials who he said were “tearing America apart.”
“We need to get Trump out of office,” said El, 54. “He’s ripping families apart. People are losing their lives.”
The federal funding cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, and Medicaid also pushed El to cast his vote.
“People need their health insurance, and people need to eat,” El said.
Among the people in Chicago living in SNAP households who are 22 or older, 47% are employed but still need government support to help buy groceries, according to 2024 U.S. Census data analyzed by WBEZ.
Early voting for the March 17 election started Thursday at the supersite and at the Chicago Board of Elections office at 69 W. Washington St. Early voting in all Chicago wards begins March 2.
“Don’t wait until the last second,” Chicago Board of Elections Chair Marisel Hernandez said at a morning media briefing at the supersite.
Hernandez also said the board would ensure that all voters feel safe casting their ballots after a former White House aide said federal agents should be at polling sites.
“Every voter has the right to register to vote and then vote free of intimidation, threats and coercion,” Hernandez said. “We have federal and state laws that prohibit any type of intimidation of voters during elections, and in fact, these laws specifically prohibit the presence of federal officers at any polling place.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said last week that she “can’t guarantee” a federal agent wouldn’t be near a polling location.
“I mean, that’s, frankly, a very silly hypothetical question,” said Leavitt. “But what I can tell you is, I haven’t heard the president discuss any formal plans to put ICE outside of polling locations. It’s a disingenuous question.”
Hernandez said all election judges know to call the board and 911 if they see any unusual activity near voting sites.
Officials also reminded voters casting ballots by mail to return them quickly after the U.S. Postal Service announced that it could not guarantee ballots would be postmarked before Election Day.
Under the new policy, mail will be postmarked, then date-stamped, on the day it is processed at the post office, rather than the day it is dropped in a mailbox.
Because mail is often processed days after it is dropped off, if ballots are postmarked after Election Day it could jeopardize whether votes are counted. Mail-in ballots must be postmarked by Election Day and received within 14 days to be counted.
“Don’t risk a late postmark on your ballot,” said Hernandez. “Your vote needs to be counted.”