This story came in from Cook County yesterday, “More than 11,000 ballots cast in first 5 hours of early voting.”

Here’s a bit from the story:

Chicago Board of Elections spokesman Jim Allen said 6,353 ballots were cast as of 1 p.m. in Chicago. That far exceeds the first day of early voting for the presidential primary, which had a total of 3,983 voters in Chicago.

Cook County Clerk’s office spokeswoman Courtney Greve said 4,688 ballots were cast as of 1:40 p.m. in suburban Cook County. The total number of voters in the first day of early voting for the primary was 1,581.

Both Allen and Greve said the number of ballots cast will exceed prior early voting first-day records on the first day.