Election officials in Chicago say the start of early voting is likely to be delayed because of so many candidate ballot challenges.

Early voting is slated to begin statewide next week on Thursday.

Chicago Board of Election Commissioners spokesman Jim Allen said Friday that with rulings pending on which candidates are going to be on the ballot, voting equipment won't be programmed, tested and ready for ballots in several languages by Thursday.

Allen declined to offer further details, saying the board would issue more information Monday.

It was unclear if there'd be an impact on early voting elsewhere in Illinois. At least one of the pending candidate questions involves a statewide office.

Illinois State Board of Elections spokesman Matt Dietrich says decisions on early voting are up to each election authority.