"It was very quick and easy if you're downtown, said voter Earl Geier. "There's plenty of places and booths for people to vote so it really doesn't take long."
"Just wanted to get it out-of-the-way and make sure that my vote counts," voter Layra Trylong said.
Chicago residents can now go to any early voting site in the city across all 50 wards to cast their ballot.
Voting also expands Monday in surrounding counties including suburban Cook, DuPage, McHenry, Will, Kane, and Lake County Illinois.
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"If given the opportunity, I early vote every time," Tiajauna Gordon said. "Because it's easier to just come in, avoid the mad rush, because there's going to be one, and I do my civic duty."
Experts say about 50% of people vote before Election Day either in person or by mail.
The DuPage County Fairground early voting site in Wheaton was popular Monday.
"Early voting has just been the greatest gift to our voters and to expand the time that you can cast a ballot is great," said voter Brenda Wade.
Election judges at that site now use tablets to more quickly identify the voter. Then they are given paper ballots printed on the spot to correspond with their districts.
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"We look it up in the database, we find out what ballot they need to be issued and it prints it, wherever they live in the county," said Jean Kaczmarek, DuPage County Clerk.
Kaczmarek said the number of early voters in 2024 has doubled since 2020. She said they had already processed 3,000 ballots just before noon Monday.
"You are in and out, you don't have to wait, and looking for parking is exceptional," said voter Eardell Norfleet.
"I'm a mom of three and it's just so much easier to go when I need to and get it done," said voter Ashley Holman.
Joan Lian, who came to the U.S. 10 years ago from Myanmar, cast his first ballot as an American citizen with patriotic pride.
"God bless America," he said as he left his polling place.
If you are going to vote by mail, election officials urge you to do it now, so you have plenty of time to return your ballot.
"Currently, there have been over a quarter of a million ballots requested by mail and nearly 54,000 vote by mail ballots returned," Chicago Board of Elections Chairwoman Marisel Hernandez said.
All requests to vote by mail must be submitted by October 31 and ballots must be postmarked by Election Day, November 5.
"You never know what's going to happen in your life and it's always a good idea to get in and get it over with," Trylong said. "That way you know your vote counts you know who you want to win has a better chance."
If you still need to register to vote, you can do so in-person through Election Day at select polling sites.