30 polls staying open late in suburban Cook County

Polls at 30 precincts in suburban Cook County, including three in Elgin and Hoffman Estates, will be open until 8 p.m. to make up for opening late today.

Among the polling places open for the extra hour are Hanover Township Precinct 4 at Hilltop School, 1855 Rohrssen Rd., Elgin; Hanover Township Precinct 19 at Timber Trails Elementary School, 1675 McDonough Rd, Hoffman Estates; and Schaumburg Township Precinct 25 at Fairview School, 375 Arizona Blvd, Hoffman Estates.

Earlier today, Cook County reported "hundreds" of election judges failed to show up to open polls this morning.

Edmund Michalowski, deputy clerk of elections for Cook County, said election officials were "really surprised" at the development.

"Even some judges that set up their precinct a day in advance and attended training, many, many of them didn't show up today," he said. "I don't know if it's the new wave of COVID people are afraid of or what it was, but it was unexpected."

Michalowski said field technicians at the polls are trained to do double duty as judges, and some other judges were reassigned to affected locations. He added that all precincts did open, but "for the first hour it was touch and go with many precincts."

The clerk's office was expecting to have about 6,500 election judges working today before the no-shows.

Michalowski said attorneys are preparing the paperwork that will allow the affected precincts to stay open later to make up for the lost time.

Additional precincts staying open until 8 p.m. are:

Rickover Junior High School, 22151 Torrence Ave. Sauk Village, (Bloom, Precinct 32)

Kellar Middle School, 14123 Lydia Ave, Robbins (Bremen, Precinct 37)

Scarlet Oak School, 5731 Albert Dr. Oak Forest (Bremen, Precinct 46)

Kellar Middle School, 14123 Lydia Ave, Robbins (Bremen, Precinct 65)

Hawthorne Park District, 5202 W. 29th PL. Cicero (Cicero, Precinct 10)

Village of Lyons, 4200 Lawndale Ave, Lyons (Lyons, Precinct 59)

Union Ridge School, 4600 N. Oak Park Ave, Harwood Heights (Norwood Park, Precinct 1)

Hickory Hills Presbyterian Church, 8426 W. 95th St., Hickory Hills (Palos, Precinct 18)

Lincoln School, 811 W. Chicago Ave., Maywood (Proviso Precinct 01)

Lincoln School, 811 W. Chicago Ave., Maywood (Proviso Precinct 02)

Village of Brookfield, 8820 Brookfield (Proviso, Precinct 29)

Garfield School, 1514 S. 9th Ave, Maywood (Proviso, Precinct 40)

Ehinger Brothers VFW Post 8141, 664 Hirsch Ave., Calumet City (Thornton, Precinct 12)

Calvin Coolidge School, 17845 Henry St., Lansing (Thornton, Precinct 16)

Calvin Coolidge School, 17845 Henry St., Lansing (Thornton, Precinct 51)

Calvin Coolidge School, 17845 Henry St., Lansing (Thornton, Precinct 56)

Calvin Coolidge School, 17845 Henry St., Lansing (Thornton, Precinct 65)

Lincoln School, 14100 Honore Ave., Dixmoor (Thornton, Precinct 30)

Lincoln School, 14100 Honore Ave., Dixmoor (Thornton, Precinct 31)

Village of Riverdale, 157 W. 144th St. Riverdale (Thornton, Precinct 33)

Burnham Community Center, 14020 Torrence Ave, Burnham (Thornton Township, Precinct 99)

Dwight Eisenhower High School, 12700 Sacramento Ave, Blue Island (Worth Township, Precinct

Nathan Hale Primary School, 5324 135th St., Crestwood (Worth Township, Precinct 23)

Worth Park District, 10707 Oak Park Ave, Worth, (Worth Township, Precinct 71)

Prairie Junior High School, 11910 S Kostner Ave, Alsip (Worth Township, Precinct 73)

Byline Bank, 3322 Oak Park Ave, Berwyn (Berwyn Township W1 P1)

Pavek Recreation Center, 6501 31st St., Berwyn (Berwyn Township W2 P1)