Illinois Stumbles as States See Light Voter Turnout, With Many Ballots in the Mail

Voting in major cities in Illinois was rife with confusion on Tuesday and early turnout in many areas was significantly lower than expected, leading to complaints from poll workers and clashes between Chicago officials and the statehouse.

Illinois is one of three states that went ahead with their Democratic presidential primaries on Tuesday amid fears about people gathering in groups and risking exposure to the coronavirus. In Florida, relocated polling sites led to disruption and low turnout was reported in some counties, while voting in others was running smoothly. Arizona, where a vast majority of voters had cast their ballots early, was reporting no major issues.

Elections officials in all three states hoped that any drop-off in turnout would be partially offset by early voting and the vote-by-mail ballots that many Democrats filed in the weeks leading up to Tuesday.

Ohio also had a presidential primary scheduled, but Gov. Mike DeWine postponed it through a flurry of legal actions and declarations on Monday night, recommending that it be pushed to June 2. Voters who weren’t aware of the late-night decision by the governor and the state’s top health official were greeted Tuesday morning with closed doors and statements taped to windows saying the primary had been postponed.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/elections-2020/illinois-stumbles-as-states-see-light-voter-turnout-with-many-ballots-in-the-mail/ar-BB11jKKS?li=BBnb7Kz

Voting by mail is the way to go if you want to minimize coronavirus risk. The states which have delayed their primaries better be pursuing this solution.