Following a contentious nine-candidate mayoral race, Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson and former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas are headed to an April 4 runoff that will decide the next mayor of Chicago. 

Several aldermanic races are likely to go to runoffs as well. The Chicago Board of Election Commissioners (CBEC) is still tabulating mail-in ballots from the Feb. 28 general election, and will release official results by March 15.

Early voting for the runoff will start on Monday, March 20 in all 50 wards and at the CBEC supersite at 191 N. Clark. The supersite is open from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on weekdays, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturdays and 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Sundays. 

On Election Day, polls will be open from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Applications for mail-in ballots opened on March 6. Voters can apply for a mail-in ballot on the CBEC’s website by March 30. If you voted by mail in the first round of the mayoral election, but you’re not on the permanent vote-by-mail roster, you will need to reapply for a new mail-in ballot for the runoff.

Voters can register online at the CBEC website, and same-day voter registration will be available at all of the early voting sites as well as on Election Day.

Early voting in the Feb. 28 general election was far higher than what’s been seen in previously, and it was driven by a major surge in mail-in ballots. This week, vote-by-mail ballots — that are still being tallied — pushed 2023 first-round turnout slightly above the 2019 general election’s turnout of 35.45 percent. As of March 6, the unofficial 2023 turnout was 35.51 percent, according to the CBEC. 

The lowest turnout recorded in a general election in Chicago history was in 2007 when Dorothy Brown and William “Dock” Walls challenged incumbent Mayor Richard M. Daley. In that race, only 33.08 percent of voters showed up at the polls.

Some of the highest turnout was seen 40 years ago, when Harold Washington was swept into office by a coalition of Black, Latiné and “lakefront liberal” white voters. In 1983, turnout in the general election was 82 percent citywide, and as high as 90 percent in some wards.  

See election results, read interviews with the candidates and find your ward and precinct at The TRiiBE’s 2023 Election Center.