Chicago broke records for early and mail ballots in primary

CHICAGO (AP) - Chicago broke records for early voting and mail ballots during the March primary that took place just before the governor ordered Illinoisans to stay home to curb the spread of coronavirus, according to official tallies released Monday.

The number of Chicagoans seeking mail ballots beat World War II-era records.

There were 117,118 mail ballot applications for the March primary, besting the 116,117 ahead of the general election in November 1944, according to the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners.

Election officials said 83,361 mail ballots were returned for the March primary. The previous record was 33,955 returned for the March 2016 primary.

Early voting records were also broken.

Before the March 17 primary, 171,709 ballots were cast, which beat the previous record of 140,148 votes before the March 2016 primary.

Overall turnout was 38%, officials said.

The Illinois State Board of Elections said official statewide data won't be available until later this month.

Days after the election, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued a stay-at-home order for most residents in the state.