Election officials show off new Chicago voting supersite ahead of Illinois Primary
The 2026 Illinois Primary Election is on March 17.
CHICAGO (WLS) -- Early voting in Chicago begins Thursday and officials showed off a brand-new voting supersite at State and Adams that will replace the Clark and Lake location.
"As you can see, we still got the new car smell around here," Max Bever, director of public information at the Chicago Board of Elections, said. "It's an absolute new facility built out just for this purpose."
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Slightly larger than the original Supersite at Clark & Lake, the brand new facility holds 80 voting machines, a few more than its predecessor.
The reason for the move, Max Bever with the Chicago Board of Elections says their lease simply ended with the Secretary of State and they were looking more space for the public.
"When it comes to our voting machines, though, there is not any major changes," Bever said. "We are really business as normal. We have the same touch screen machines. We have the same ballot scanners. There is no new machines that are being tested, but what you're seeing today is testing our tried and true machines and going through all the different dozens of laws that we have to follow ahead of Election Day."
The Supersite at State & Adams as well as 69 W. Washington St. open this Thursday to voters ahead of the March 17th primary election.
The rest of the 50 ward polling locations open March 2.
Over in the suburbs, early voting began Tuesday in DuPage County, while Kendall, Kane, McHenry, Will and Lake counties already started last week.
2026 primary elections: Click here for voter information in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin
Back in Chicago, staff are completing their pre-election equipment testing, checking every machine and testing ballots.
Once those tests are complete, the machines are then locked up and sealed for protection.
"So every single touch screen voting machine has many multiple layers of tests and checks that happen before it goes into a live voting mode. So that's what you're seeing happen today," Bever said.
This Supersite location opens at 9 a.m. Thursday. Early voting opens in Cook County next Wednesday, February 18.
