For only the fourth time in the last century, Chicago voters will head to the polls Tuesday to pick a new mayor from among 14 challengers vying to replace retiring Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
With no clear front-runner, polls suggest that no candidate is even close to getting the more than 50 percent of the vote needed to win outright — and avoid an April 2 run off.
But first, the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners will have to count all the ballots — while officials keep their fingers crossed that they avert a “nightmare scenario” where it is not clear which candidates finish in the top two spots, as late-arriving mail and provisional ballots trickle in.
“Chicago has never had an election like this,” and may never see one like it again, Chicago Board of Election Commissioners Chairwoman Marisel Hernandez said Monday.