Voting on first day worth the wait: ‘I feel like my life depends on it’

Dozens of voters wait in line outside the Warren Park fieldhouse on Wednesday, Oct. 14, the first day of early voting in Chicago. | Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

Nila Hofman voted in her first election in 2008 after becoming a naturalized citizen, and has made it a priority to vote early and in person ever since.

This year was no different, except her typically smooth experience was complicated by the pandemic and technical problems at her West Rogers Park polling location on Wednesday morning, the first day of early voting in Chicago.

“We’re all very paranoid about voter suppression this election and the fact that it was so inefficient — this process didn’t help any of us to feel confident,” said Hofman, 59.

Early voting sites were open in all 50 wards, with social distancing and other coronavirus protections in place, including clear plastic shields protecting poll workers and masks available for voters.

Hofman arrived at her polling place in Warren Park around 8 a.m., 30 minutes before doors were set to open. She didn’t cast her ballot until nearly 10:30 a.m.

For much of the morning, there were usually about 60 voters in line. The process was slowed for awhile because only two of five voting stations were working.

Valerie Johnson, 59, casts her general election ballot at Warren Park in the West Rogers Park neighborhood on the North Side on Wednesday. It was the the first day of in-person early voting in Chicago’s 50 wards.

Hofman had time to wait; she planned her day around voting. But she’s worried voters who work or have children to care for will be deterred.

“I was able to stay in line because I feel like my life depends on it. There’s so much riding on this election, the possibility of losing our health care and all sorts of social, economic and political rights,” Hofman said. “But not everyone is as lucky as me that they can sit in a line for more than two hours on a Wednesday.”

Though many voters found themselves waiting for hours like Hofman, they too stayed put.

Eddie Thornton, 67, and her husband John, 69, have been voting early in Rogers Park for six presidential elections. Both believed it was important for them as Black Chicagoans to wait to vote, regardless of the pandemic.

Even though she’s at higher risk for the virus, Eddie Thornton said this election is too important to not have her voice heard.

“We’ll be here as long as it takes,” she said. “This election is way too important because of all the shenanigans we’ve seen in this country the last four years. We need to get order back in this country.”

George Copeland, 70, of Rogers Park, votes Wednesday in the Warren Park fieldhouse in the West Rogers Park neighborhood on the North Side. It was the first day of in-person early voting in Chicago’s 50 wards.