The IOC Vote: How Will It All Go Down?

By Marcus Gilmer in Miscellaneous on Oct 1, 2009 9:00PM

So the day is almost upon us. In fact, a long day of Olympic activities will kick off not only in Copenhagen, but also Chicago not long after midnight Chicago time. That's when - at around 1:45 a.m. our time - all four cities will have a chance to present their case to the IOC one last time. Every major network in town will carry it live both on television and stream it on their website. The IOC will also stream all the fun via their website. For the three of you still awake and on this site at that hour, I'll be covering it as well right here. Once that's all wrapped up, the voting begins. So how will the voting go down? The Tribune's James Janega is all over that question and breaks it down for us.

On Friday, members of the International Olympics Committee will vote secretly by pressing numbered buttons for either Chicago, Madrid , Tokyo or Rio de Janeiro. (There are 106 eligible members, but those from a country making a bid cannot vote until that country is eliminated. That means there will be 99 eligible voters in the first round, since Brazil, Japan and the United States have two IOC members apiece, while Spain has one.)

If no bid city gets a majority of the votes in the first round, the lowest vote-getter will be eliminated and another round of voting will occur. If no city gets a majority in the second round, another city will be tossed out and a third round will take place. With only four competitors, voting can't go beyond three rounds.

You can watch the action unfold on TV and the web or you could join the fun live and in person at the rally in Daley Plaza. The shenanigans kick off at 9 a.m. though the final announcement won't be until 11:30 a.m. Chicago time (voting begins at 10 a.m. Chicago time). That's assuming Chicago makes it to the final round of voting and, barring an epic upset, all signs point to a Chicago-Rio showdown.

We'll also be down in Daley Plaze tomorrow morning and (hopefully) updating live from the event, so be sure to keep us bookmarked as well to check out photos and feedback from the event and - as always - share your thoughts on everything that goes down.