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2 Investigators: Shaming People To Vote

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Behind-the-scenes, the focus Tuesday is to make sure there are no shenanigans at the voting booth.

As CBS 2's Pam Zekman reports, city and county election officials say one winner has already emerged: early voting.

"We've shattered the previous record for early voting in a gubernatorial primary," says Cook County Clerk David Orr.

He expects to top 100,000 by day's end.

The Chicago Board of Elections reports 86,000 of which the majority of voters are 45 or older.

"I don't know where the millennials are," says Marisel Hernandez of the Chicago Board of Elections. "So, millennials, please come out and vote."

The city criticized an unorthodox get-out-the vote letter that some residents say is intimidating.

It identifies residents who did not vote in past elections and threatens to send it out again "to your friends, your neighbors and other people" if they fail to vote in this election.

Voter Shaming Letter
(Credit: CBS)

"This is a pre-election day stunt to try and drive up voter turnout in that precinct or ward," says James Allen of the Chicago Board of Elections who says the letter is not illegal. "It's just creepy."

As for concerns about a repeat of a security breach at the state election board in which hackers were able to get voter information, local officials say they've met regularly with the FBI and Department of Homeland Security.

"We have done everything we could possibly think of in order to have a secure election," says Hernandez.

And they're hiring a cyber security expert.

"That's just another step of how terribly important this is," says Orr.

Despite the encouraging early voting turnout numbers, officials say its also terribly important for voters to get out and vote tomorrow.

 

 

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