Suburban Cook County early voting off to strong start

About 8,300 suburban Cook County voters cast ballots Monday, the first day of early voting, which Cook County Clerk David Orr called a "strong start."

"Monday's impressive turnout demonstrated just how popular early voting has become," Orr said.

When Cook County's 43 early voting sites closed at 5 p.m. on Monday, 8,298 suburban Cook County residents had cast early ballots. The busiest sites were Orland Township Hall in Orland Park, with 560 ballots cast; the Arlington Heights Village Hall, with 447 votes and the Faith Family Future Center in South Holland, where 386 ballots were cast.

Monday's one-day total exceeds the early vote total for the first three days of the 2010 gubernatorial general election - 6,521. Altogether, 83,871 early voting ballots were cast in 2010.

The record for the first day of early voting was set on Oct. 22, 2012, when 13,779 ballots were cast in the presidential general election.

As well, about 45,000 suburban Cook County voters have applied for mail ballots. The deadline to apply for a mail ballot is Oct. 30, but Orr urges voters not to wait. To apply online for a mail ballot go to mailvoting.cookcountyclerk.com.

Early voting will continue through Nov. 2. Those ballots will not be counted until the polls close on Election Day, Nov. 4.

The Clerk's website, www.cookcountyclerk.com, has a complete list of early voting locations and hours, with an early voting map and chart, and early voting totals from previous elections.