Bad weather on an election day can also have a bad effect on politics by keeping voters away from the polls. In theory, early voting, which in the race for Chicago mayor got underway earlier this week, can encourage turnout. In practice it isn’t clear whether early or absentee voting does prove a draw.

To find out how early voting is going in this year’s municipal election, Eight Forty-Eight turned to Jim Allen, the spokesperson for the Chicago Board of Elections.