U.S.·United States
Election Day: Chicago polling places ran out of paper ballots, "with multiple locations running out of them twice," leaving voters in long lines
CHICAGO —
| Score | Meaning | Major U.S. outlets that covered it |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | Fully overlooked ← this story | 0 of 13 outlets |
| 8 | Barely covered | 1 outlet |
| 6, 5 | Lightly covered | 2 outlets (6) · 3 outlets (5) |
| 4, 3 | Covered | 4 outlets (4) · 5 outlets (3) |
| 2, 1, 0 | Widely covered | 6–7 outlets (2) · 8–10 outlets (1) · 11–13 outlets (0) |
Provisional: Google News (5 term variants for AP, Reuters and The Washington Post; 3 for the others) and Bing News (5 variants, outlet domain only) were both used. AP, Reuters and CBS News block direct site search, and the other 10 outlets’ site search only loads in a live browser. A single search engine can miss articles, so this score may go down on recheck.
Depth
Dig five layers into this story — from what happened to the full picture.
L1What happened
What happened: "The board first heard reports of a shortage in the 1st Ward around 10 a.m. Tuesday" and "began printing additional ballots at its Downtown warehouse to send to affected precincts, said Board of Elections interim spokesperson Julie Metea" (Block Club Chicago). "She said the board received confirmed ballot shortage reports in Ward 1, Precinct 4" and was "looking into similar reports in Ward 1, Precinct 5, as well as Wards 25 and 32."
L2Who’s affected
Who was affected: Goudy Elementary "ran out of paper ballots for some 48th Ward voters by 8:15 a.m. Tuesday, prompting a long wait to use the single electronic voting machine." "The polling place was initially given 50 paper ballots," an election judge said. "Neighbor Kerri Rackow said she got in line around 9:30 a.m. and was still waiting to use the electronic machine as of 11:45 a.m." At a Pilsen school, "The polling site ran out of paper ballots twice"; "By then, over 470 people had voted at the site," a judge said. "As of 5 pm on Tuesday, Nellis said there was at least a two-hour wait to vote at Holstein Park" (all Block Club Chicago).
L3Why it’s quiet
Why it stayed quiet: Analysis: Each shortage was at the precinct level and patched during the day, on a night when national coverage centered on control of Congress. The reporting came from Block Club Chicago and WTTW.
L4Deeper impact
The cause: "Some of those precincts can have as many as seven ballot combinations, Metea said." At Roosevelt High School, an election judge said "they were only given about 150 ballots for school board district 3A, but they were given 1,700 ballots for district 2B." "I've been doing this for 10 years and we've never had this," said election judge Kim Smolen (Block Club Chicago). WTTW reported the board was "noting the delays appeared to be happening in some precincts that were split in different districts."
L5Full context
Full context: Voters are choosing races "including Chicago's first fully elected school board" (WTTW). "City turnout on Tuesday was more than 180,000 at 2:30 p.m., according to a spokesperson from the Chicago Board of Elections" (WTTW). Block Club reported "232,672 ballots were cast at polling places as of 3:15 p.m. Tuesday," compared "with about 227,633 Election Day ballots cast by around the same time during the 2022 midterm election." The two turnout figures are from different times. "Voters who are in line by 7 p.m. will be allowed to vote."
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Original reporting
Status history (2 events, ET)
- O-Score check: 10 (Fully overlooked) · 0 of 13 outlets counted
- Published
Story timeline
Drag to see how this story moved: when we published, when big outlets had it, and each O-Score check. From our stored check log; times ET.
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All 2 events as a list
- 7:25 PM ET, Nov 3, 2026 · O-Score check: 0 of 13 outlets had it (score 10)
- 7:29 PM ET, Nov 3, 2026 · OVERLOOKED published this story
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Election 2026Voting accessElection administration
This is an OVERLOOKED summary of the reporting above. Facts and figures come from the linked sources. Everything here is a fact unless it is labelled otherwise. Support this work.
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