The Cook County Board of Elections reported Tuesday that primary voting was proceeding “within normal operational parameters,” a phrase its spokesperson used four times during a noon press briefing and which became, over the course of the day, something of an institutional mantra, deployed in response to questions about the precinct at St. Brendan Parish where the parking lot had been double-booked with a green beer tent, the polling place in Lincoln Square that reported three voters arriving in full leprechaun costume, and the situation at the Wrigleyville early vote satellite location that a CPD incident log described only as “ongoing, festive, cooperative.”

“We are aware of the calendar,” said Board of Elections Executive Director Marisel Hernandez at the noon briefing. “We have been aware of the calendar since the election was scheduled. We took steps.” She was asked what steps. She said “enhanced signage and additional staff,” then said those steps had been implemented at all 2,069 precincts, then was asked about the St. Brendan parking lot situation specifically, and said that situation had been “flagged and is being addressed,” and then did not address it further at the briefing.

The parking lot situation was, by most accounts, both unavoidable and technically fine. The beer tent, operated by a licensed vendor who had obtained a city special event liquor license weeks in advance, was separated from the polling place entrance by approximately 40 feet of chain-link fencing and a hand-lettered sign reading “POLLING PLACE — NO ELECTIONEERING WITHIN 100 FT.” The fence, officials noted, established a clear perimeter. What the fence could not address was the bagpiper who set up on the polling place side of the fence at approximately 8:15 AM, apparently unaware that he was inside the electioneering boundary, and who played for 45 minutes before a poll worker asked him to relocate. He relocated to the other side of the fence, which was inside the beer tent, where he was very well received.

Turnout through 11 AM was described by Board of Elections data as “tracking in the low-to-mid range for a competitive primary,” which, a spokesperson confirmed when pressed, meant it was lower than a presidential primary but higher than a consolidated municipal election, a formulation that is technically informative and practically maddening. She added that turnout historically increased in the evening hours and that the Board “remained optimistic.” She was asked if St. Patrick’s Day celebrations might depress evening turnout as bars filled up. She said the Board did not speculate about social behavior. She then said — off the record, which she then said she would like back on the record — that they had “some internal models” on this question and that the models were “not alarming.”

The intersection of festivity and franchise produced scenes across the city that poll workers described in informal reports as “memorable.” In Bridgeport, a polling place at a park fieldhouse reported a steady morning flow of voters who came directly from watching the parade and were still wearing their commemorative green hats, several of which had flashing LED lights. Poll workers confirmed that LED hats are not prohibited under Illinois election law. In Pilsen, a voter arrived in a full Irish dancing competition costume and requested a Spanish-language ballot, which the precinct had and provided. In Logan Square, a man in a green kilt voted, shook the precinct captain’s hand, said “God bless this beautiful insane city,” and left.

The Senate primary, which features three credentialed Democratic candidates with overlapping policy platforms and no obvious villain — a situation the Illinois Voter Education Collaborative has spent several weeks documenting — remained, as of early returns, too close to call in a way that political analysts described as “legitimate” rather than “suspenseful,” a distinction one analyst spent several minutes trying to explain before concluding the two might be the same thing in this case. The congressional primary in the 2nd District, featuring ten candidates, was expected to take significantly longer to resolve and may require the city to find a word that means “winner” but implies “the person who most narrowly survived a very crowded field.”

At a poll worker debrief in the 19th Ward, captain Linda Orozco, who has run the same precinct since 2009, was asked what distinguished today from other elections. She thought about it. “Usually people are a little grumpy,” she said. “Today they were in a good mood. Still not reading the instructions. Good mood though.” She said the most common question of the day had been “do I have to take the hat off?” The answer, she confirmed, was no.

The Board of Elections said final results would be available after all precincts reported, which it expected by midnight. It said the process had been “smooth.” A spokesperson acknowledged, at 6:45 PM, that “smooth” was doing some work in that sentence. She said she stood by it regardless.