NBC Chicago is reporting that early voting numbers for the municipal election are nearly tripled the numbers for the 2007 municipal election, which they say is not bad. "(C)onsidering early polling stations were closed for two-and-a-half days during the blizzard, it's considered a success." more ›

A reminder: if you plan on voting early for next week's election, the deadline for early voting is 5 p.m. today. If you can't reach any of the 51 sites throughout the city that are open for early voters, you have to wait until Tuesday. more ›

Rahm Emanuel now has 23 more days of shaking hands at grocery stores, bowling alleys and "L" stops. Emanuel took advantage of today's early voting opening, as did City Clerk Miguel del Valle. more ›

Voter turnout in Cook County "looks good" so far this Election Day. A County Board of Elections spokeswoman said that roughly half of registered voters have turned out in midterm elections over the past 20 years, and there's been an increased interest in absentee and early voting. more ›

Early voting opened across Illinois today, although you may be hard pressed to find an open station in Cook County with this being Columbus Day and all. In Chicago, early voting stations are open right now at the city elections board office at 69 W. Washington St., the 22nd District Police headquarters at 1900 W. Monterey and at Welles Park, 2333 W. Sunnyside. The polling stations will be open until 5 p.m. today. more ›

Illinois's election law has changed, and now anyone can vote by mail by requesting an absentee ballot. The Equality Illinois Education Project produced this video to get the word out about the possibilities Illinois voters can now experience when casting a ballot. more ›

The number of Chicagoans voting early in this year's primary is down considerably from 2008's totals. With early voting for the February 2 primary date ending tomorrow, the Trib reports only 27,000 people have cast ballots early, a third of the 81,000 voters who cast ballots early in 2008 when Barack Obama was a candidate for president. That said, it's still above 14,000 people who voted early in 2006, the first year the option was available. more ›

Early voting for the February 2nd primary is underway beginning today and running through January 28th. You can vote early at a site in each ward from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday (next week's MLK Day holiday included). Check here to find the polling place in your ward and check here to get a sample ballot. more ›

Early voting for the general election on April 7 begins today at various locations around the city. Most eyes will be on the Race to Replace Rahm in the Fifth U.S. Congressional District. The three-way competition will be between Mike Quigley (D), Matt Reichel (Green), and Rosanna Pulido (R). Outside of the city, however, there are a ton of races up for grabs and you can scan them all here. more ›

As Election Day approaches in just a few scant hours, it looks like early voting wasn't just a local thing. Officials have said that early voting in the state of Illinois has topped 877,000. Overall, turnout is expected to be near 80 percent in the state for this election. The previous high for early voting was 220,000 during this year's primaries. more ›

Now that Early Voting Season has come to a close in Illinois, they've counted up the ballots, and a metric shitload of people turned out to make their mark. (Just the ballots have been counted - the actual votes won't be counted 'til election day.) ABC-7 reports that nearly half a million in Indiana, another half-million voters in Cook County, and about 285,000 in the collar counties all voted early, resulting in lines that had wait times of two hours in some cases. And we thought our ten minute wait was surprising a few weeks ago. more ›

Don't forget -- today is the last day to vote early. The polls close at 5 p.m. this evening and the Board of Elections site says, "the LEAST BUSY Early Voting sites so far have been the 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 16th, 22nd, 25th, 26th, 27th, 30th, 31st, and 32nd Ward sites." Addresses are here. more ›

Hey, kids. Don't forget that early voting continues through this Thursday, October 30. Check out the list of early voting locations and hit 'em up. Chicagoans are turning to the polls early in record numbers, so why not do what all the cool kids are doing? more ›

While city dwellers have been breaking records in early voting, suburban Cook County is on the cusp of breaking records in voter registration. As Illinois' grace period for later registration came to a close last night and registrations were still being tallied, the 'burbs were around 1.34 million registered voters; the old record is 1.4 million. Cook County Clerk David Orr expects to top that old record by about 40,000 voters. When you include Chicago, Cook County will have around 2.8 million registered voters come November 4th. No word on how many of those are goldfish. more ›

As early voting continues to take off, it might help to know what races are on your ballot. We're still gathering info for our own run-down of the offices on the city's ballot, but if you want to take a look at your ballot before casting your vote in the next two weeks, you're in luck. Hit up the Chicago Board of Elections website to enter your address and see your city's ballot and head over to the Cook County Clerk's Office site for Cook County suburbs. Links to DuPage, Lake, and Will counties are there, too. more ›

It's looking like a record-setting year for early voting in the Chicago area, most likely due to a certain Hyde Park resident who's running for President. According to an email exchange we had with Chicago Board of Election Commissioners Communications Director James Allen, 11,074 ballots had been cast as of 4:27 p.m. yesterday. By the end of the day, that number had reached 11,735, nearly three times the previous record for the first day of early voting and just shy of the 11, 971 votes cast on the last day of early voting before this year's primary election in February (we were stuck in that ridonkulous line for two hours). Our own Karl Klockars reported waiting in line yesterday to cast his early vote. Even the 'burbs got in on the act, casting 7,616 early votes, smashing the previous record of 1,591, also from this year's primary early voting period. more ›

According to Cook County Clerk David Orr’s office, 1,086 ballots were cast in the first 90 minutes of early voting in Chicago this morning. more ›

Worried that a business trip or a hectic schedule will interfere with your chance to vote? Early voting for Chicagoans begins today and continues through Thursday, October 30. Check out the complete list of early voting locations. more ›

Thanks to Bill M, we know that it isn't just Chicagoists who read... Chicagoist. And if you are part of that select group of ex=pat Chicagoans who keep up with our city, you're probably interested in voting in the upcoming presidential primary. And now, for the first time, Democrats living abroad can vote in the upcoming presidential primary. Democrats Abroad, the official overseas branch of the party will hold a global presidential primary from Feb. 5 to 12. Americans living outside the US can vote in the Democratic primary via internet, fax, mail and in-person in 34 countries around the globe. (The Tribune says there are 100 countries, but the website managing the vote says 34.) To participate, you must join Democrats Abroad, register, and request a ballot from the last US state you lived in before February 1. more ›

Head to Daley Plaza this morning at 10:30 a.m. for a quick early voting rally for Mark Pera. Pera, the assistant Cook County State's Attorney who is running against Dan Lipinski for the 3rd Congressional District seat, is the first serious candidate to challenge Lipinski since he went to congress in 2004. Pera's campaign has attracted a lot of attention, both online and in the district. Online support has helped helped fund his campaign, but anger in the district at how the elder Lipinski handed his seat to his son has fueled the viability of his candidacy. Still, he's running against the full force and weight of Chicago's entrenched Democratic Machine. more ›

Was it an over-eager desire to do our civic duty? Was it a whim? Or did we just want to check out what was inside the building in Welles Park? Who cares - our primary voting is done! more ›

Now that the Michigan primary is safely behind us, all eyes are focused on Nevada and South Carolina. For Democrats, who need at least 2,025 delegates to win the presidential nomination, Nevada's caucuses this Saturday offer 33 delegates. Not only is the nation looking at the Silver State, where early voting is a new experience for a mix of Latino, rural and urban voters, but so are the federal courts. Hillary Clinton has been polling well there, but Barack Obama has been endorsed by the state's largest union, the Culinary Workers. This endorsement is significant not only because it is the largest union in the state, but also because the state's Democratic party has opted to hold nine "at-large" caucuses, open to anyone within 2.5 miles of the Las Vegas strip, where the bulk of CWU members work. Intended to make voting easier for shift-workers in Nevada's casino industry, the move prompted a lawsuit by the Nevada Teachers Union. The lawsuit claimed that those voting in at-large precincts being held on the Strip would have too much weight compared with those voting at their polling places, infringes on the right to equal protection guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, and violate state statute in the way they were drawn. more ›

Early voting has begun across the state, and will continue until January 31st. As long as you didn't/don't register during the grace period, from the 2nd until the 22nd, then you can take advantage of early voting for all primary races. That includes the big one, so be the first to shut all your friends up about Hillary vs. Obama vs. that one muppet and let them know you won't be hearin' any more of their idle talk until they do the damn thing. more ›

Now that all the aldermanic candidates are rested and refreshed, and the runoffs are coming quickly upon us, there is a renewed sense of hatred and mudslinging in the wards that are still contested this year. In the 49th Ward, Alderman Joe Moore is pointing to the $60,000 that his opponent Don Gordon took from money manager David Herro of Harris Associates, a major Wal-Mart stock-holder. While connecting those dots requires a bit of a... more ›

Campaigning for alderman is hard work — you have to knock on doors, make speeches, and be sure that you are leaving time for the business interests in your ward to come by and tell you all about their big plans to develop the area. Alderman Howard Brookins knows all about bringing development to the ward, and how important it is to work with businesses that will bring quality of life and good jobs to... more ›

-->Today is the day that we have all been waiting for. If you haven't taken advantage of Early Voting (and if you live in the 25th Ward, that might be a good thing), your ass needs to get up this morning, or leave work early, to go and vote. If you aren't sure where your polling place is (and with voting broken down by precinct it can be difficult to be sure), you can... more ›

It's been a whole seven days since last week, and just like snow, the news is piling up. As our man Barack implores us to let him walk with us on this movement, everyone is just hoping for a piece of his shadow. Let's take a look back. Chicagoist's favorite whipping boy Todd "The Toddler" Stroger got booed by the crowd at Obama's announcement rally in Chicago Sunday. Considering that the people that carried Obama... more ›

Don't forget, folks, early voting ends today, so if you forgot to write-in Tim Nieukirk for Governor, today is your last chance before the actual election on Tuesday. more ›

Chicagoist found this little gem in the Tribune yesterday, and it got us to thinking about strategy. Because, ya know, it's like a little over 2 weeks to an election. more ›

In case you missed it, there's an election coming up. And Chicagoist wants you to participate. That's right, we're talking to YOU!
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