By Townhall Chicago News Staff
The Chicago Board of Election Commissioners on Tuesday published daily vote totals for the Nov. 3 general election, offering the first detailed look at early voting turnout across the city’s 50 wards.
The data will be closely watched for trends in voter engagement as officials continue tallying ballots from a midterm cycle that featured contested races, a historic transition to a fully elected Board of Education and several advisory ballot measures on progressive tax policy.
As of the evening of Monday, Nov. 2, a total of 211,657 in-person early voting ballots had been cast for the 2026 general election, according to the board’s report. An additional 109,215 vote-by-mail ballots had been returned out of 242,230 requested.
The combined early and mail-in total of roughly 320,000 ballots provided a baseline for gauging citywide participation before polls opened Tuesday morning.
“All Polling Places and Universal Vote Centers open today across Chicago for the 2026 Midterm General Election, marking a historic transition toward a fully elected Chicago Board of Education,” the board said in a Nov. 3 press release.
The election marked the first time Chicago voters selected members of a fully elected school board, a governance change that had been debated for years and enacted through state legislation.
The board expanded early voting access in the weeks before the election. In-person early voting opened Oct. 1 at two downtown locations and expanded to all 50 wards and three Chicago-area universities on Oct. 19, giving voters across the city convenient options to cast their ballots ahead of Election Day, the board said in an earlier release.
Vote-by-mail ballots and online specimen ballots became available in early October. The board had mailed approximately 210,500 vote-by-mail ballots as of Oct. 1, according to a prior announcement.
The board also extended public viewing of record examinations related to the upcoming 2027 Municipal and Aldermanic Election. The viewing sessions are being held at 11 E. Adams St., Suite 300, on weekdays through Friday, Nov. 6, from 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. The filing period for candidate petition objections for that election began Oct. 27 and ran through Nov. 2 at the board’s office at 69 W. Washington St., Suite 800.
Complete precinct-level results from Tuesday’s general election are expected in the coming days as the board processes remaining ballots, including provisional ballots and late-arriving vote-by-mail ballots. Residents seeking voting information or election results can visit the board’s website at chicagoelections.gov.
