Voters are expected to flood the post in Chicago soon to choose their next mayor in a hotly contested race between controversial Mayor Rahm Emanuel and four other challengers.

Although the polls don’t open until Tuesday, Feb. 24, early voting turnout is already in, and the numbers suggest that the final tally could rival numbers from 2011, according to an Associated Press report.

More than 57,000 Chicago residents have voted early, and early voting doesn’t end until today. That compares with about 73,000 who voted early in 2011, representing 12 percent of the total turnout, although early voting in that case ended the Thursday before the election.

Election officials are hopeful that the strong returns will continue through Saturday to boost numbers even further and indicate a big turnout on Tuesday.

Mayor Emanuel, who is seeking reelection, already voted on Friday in Chicago, as did one of his challengers, businessman Willie Wilson.

His remaining three challengers, Cook County Commissioner Jesus Garcia, Alderman Bob Fioretti, and William Walls have announced that they will wait until Election Day to cast their ballots.

Emanuel, the former White House Chief of Staff for President Obama after he was elected in 2008, eventually left to run for mayor in his home city, and his high political profile served him well in his successful election bid.

However, his heavy-handed style has won him more than his share of detractors, with one Chicago Tribune columnist hoping that voters won’t cast their ballots for him and lead to a runoff, which “might impress upon Rahm that this isn’t Rome and he’s not Rahmulus,” decrying his attempts to build glitzy casinos or a “fancy downtown college basketball palace,” said columnist John Kass.

A recent poll showed him well ahead of his challengers with 42 percent of the vote versus the second-closest candidate, Jesus Garcia, who had only 18 percent, although a full 20 percent remained undecided. Should Emanuel fail to get enough votes, however, he could face a runoff election.