Mail-in ballots driving record returns as early voting opens in all 50 wards

Voters cast their ballots in the Feb. 28 municipal election Monday at the Lincoln Park Branch Library on the North Side. Monday was the first day of in-person early voting in Chicago’s 50 wards. (Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times)

Voters choosing to mail in their ballots are driving record early returns in the city’s Feb. 28 municipal election.

The leap in vote-by-mail ballots could push overall turnout past 40%, which the city hasn’t seen in a municipal election in over a decade.