UPDATED at 4:50 p.m.
Polls will close at 7 p.m. in Champaign County. Voters are encouraged to get in line by 7 p.m. and stay until they’ve cast their ballots.
The county rescinded its request to extend election hours to 9 p.m. after technical difficulties early this morning caused systemwide issues with processing voters.
“After working with the State’s Attorney, the Champaign County Clerk’s Office will not be extending voting hours,” Chief Deputy Clerk Angela Patton said in a media advisory at 4 p.m. “We were informed that anyone voting after 7 p.m. would have to vote with a provisional ballot or the entire election could be in jeopardy of being challenged.”
There was a possibility of extending the hours without using provisional ballots that required the support of the local Republican party, Patton said, and “according to the Chairwoman, they were not willing to partner with the Clerk’s office to extend the voting hours to 9 p.m.”
Susan Mantell, chair of the Champaign County GOP, said Patton’s statement is not accurate.
Mantell said she got a text from Clerk Ammons asking if the Republican Party would be okay with extending voting hours, to which she replied that there “was no need to keep the polls open until 9.” She said she told him that the county should follow Illinois law, which states that ballots cast after 7 p.m. will be considered provisional ballots.
“Provisional ballots end up causing a lot more work for poll workers and also for voters,” Mantell said. “…I think that’s an undue burden and it’s frankly unnecessary because the law already provides a remedy in that when you’re in line by 7 p.m. you end up being able to vote.”
The most important thing to note, Patton said, is that if you are in line by 7 p.m. you will be allowed to vote, regardless of how long the line is.
“Every eligible voter will be processed if they are in line by 7 p.m. and all polling locations are universal sites, meaning any eligible voter can vote anywhere in Champaign County regardless of where their home precinct is,” Patton said.
Earlier this morning, technical difficulties led to issues with voter processing at polling locations across Champaign County. Those issues were resolved before 9 a.m. and lines at polling locations across Champaign County were moving once again.
At the time, the Champaign County Clerk’s Office said on its Facebook page that the County was waiting to hear back from the vendor regarding a status update and said Clerk Aaron Ammons is working with the State’s attorney’s office to extend voting hours.
The Clerk’s office said other counties are reporting the same issues, with systems down and not able to process voters.
“Please be patient, we are doing everything we can. Please stay tuned for further updates,” the County Clerk’s Facebook post reads.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.