Chicago voters embrace 'Vote Early' option

Jan 15,2008 00:00 by UPI

CHICAGO -- Chicago voters embraced the first part of the old political adage "Vote early, vote often" as polling places in Illinois opened for early voting.

A record 3,990 early votes were cast Monday in Chicago for the Feb. 5 primary, breaking the previous first-day record of 890 votes set in 2006, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

There are 51 places in Chicago and 44 more in the Cook County suburbs where registered voters with a government-issued photo ID can cast votes. Unlike absentee voting, no excuse is required to vote early.

Officials said the expect a greater turnout for this presidential primary than in 2004, the newspaper said. The projection was based on a blitz of last-minute voter registration and the state's earlier primary date.

Early voting runs through Jan. 31.