ICPR Report: Nearly 9,000 Same Day Voter Registrants Swamp Polls in Illinois

Tuesday’s election presented an opportunity for Illinois to pilot a new program. At a limited number of sites pre-determined by the State Board of Elections, Illinois allowed voters to register at the polls on the same day of the election. The select sites included five in the City of Chicago and eighteen in Suburban Cook County.

The current count, based entirely on what election jurisdictions have reported to the Illinois State Board of Elections, shows nearly 9,000 same-day voter registrations in Illinois – nearly half coming from Suburban Cook County alone.

During the early voting session on Sunday night before the election, lines in at least one of the Chicago sites (Welles Park) were backed up with people registering to vote – foreshadowing the mass chaos that broke out Tuesday. Without making changes to increase staff the few sites that did offer the same-day registration were overwhelmed with massive lines. Some voters in the City waited until 3 AM to cast their vote. The situation was also reportedly exacerbated by a hoax call falsely telling City of Chicago election judges they were required to show up for additional training and vote a particular way on some measures of the ballot.

“This demonstration was a success in the fact that it showed there are a vast number of voters interested in same day voter registration,” Dave Melton, Executive Director of The Illinois Campaign For Political Reform commented, “it would make sense for the legislature to make this a permanent program at more, if not at all polling stations in Illinois so that we can avoid the problems, like the long waits, that a few sites experienced with this pilot project.”

For complete coverage in real time:

DNAinfo – “Line of Same-Day Registration Voters Stretches for Hours at Welles Park”

WBEZ – “Calls aimed at election judges dissuade attendance”

WBEZ – “Same-day registration means long lines for some Illinois voters”

The Northwest Herald – “Election 2014: Same-day Illinois voter registration means longer lines”

The Chicago Tribune – “Some voters in Chicago wait 9 hours to vote: ‘I just didn’t want to be denied‘”