Latest Voting Info, Cook County, Illinois
From this morning's press conference, info for suburban Cook County:

An all-time high suburban Cook voter registration of 1,436,106 set the stage for 226,084 voters to cast ballots during Early Voting from Oct. 13-30. Another 4,100 suburban residents participated in grace period voting and about 31,600 requested absentee ballots.

“While some have bemoaned voter apathy in the past, it’s not a problem this election,” Orr said. “Crowds are a sign of a healthy democracy. And I must commend the voters for their patience and enthusiasm, and applaud the Equipment Managers for their excellent service.”

On Tuesday, suburban Cook’s 2,290 precincts will be staffed by more than 11,500 election judges and Equipment Managers, including more than 2,200 high school and college students – another new record.

Orr offered these Election Day tips and reminders:

• Voters will have a choice of voting on a touch screen or with a paper ballot.

• Polling places will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.

• Polling places are least crowded from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

• Anyone in line when polls close at 7 p.m. will be allowed to vote.

• The Clerk’s office has voter hotlines in three languages (Spanish, Polish and Chinese), as well as a TDD line for the hearing impaired and a legal line to report fraud and irregularities.

• At voterinfonet.com, voters can verify their registration and view a sample ballot.

If you have a valid excuse (for example, you will be out of town on election day or are in the military -- see the web sites for details) you can still vote before the election by "in person absentee ballots," but only in a limited number of places and hours. Check the Chicago and Suburban Cook (and the links to Lake and the other counties) for more.

The magnificent David Orr (Cook County Clerk) has devoted his life to making it as easy as possible for us all to vote. Please, when you go, remember all the other Democrats on the ticket -- Dan Seals, Daniel Biss, and others. They are all good people and will serve us well.

Labels: early voting, elections

- posted by Cynthia @ 4:31 PM | | | Link |

 
You Can Early-Vote at ANY Chicago, Suburban Cook Site
TODAY, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30th, IS LAST DAY TO VOTE EARLY IN ILLINOIS!!

Just a reminder, if you're at work in the city of Chicago and also live there and also haven't early-voted: you don't have to go back to your home precinct. This is a little-known fact. Same goes for suburban Cook County. If you work in Evanston but live in Niles, you don't have to make it home by 5:00 to vote early. Just go to the Civic Center before they close (5:00). Check voterinfonet.com (Suburban Cook) or Chicago Board of Elections
This is only for early voting. If you wait till election day, you have to vote where they tell you.

The city of Chicago says:

TRAFFIC TIP: For Chicago voters, 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.

Even with twice the equipment, the busier sites are seeing lines in excess of an hour.

Labels: early voting, elections

- posted by Cynthia @ 11:52 AM | | | Link |

 
Thursday Oct 30 is Last Day for Early Voting in IL

Good afternoon, friends. Only 2 more days to get out there and vote before the election. The totals for early voting in suburban Cook County alone so far are outstanding -- 153,340 votes so far. The Chicago Board of Elections says

With three days remaining, Chicago voters have already cast more
than 174,000 ballots in Early Voting, more than doubling the 81,690 cast during the entire 18-day Early Voting for the Primary. (On Mon., Oct. 26, Chicago set a new single-day Early Voting record with more than 20,000 ballots cast, the fifth time this fall a new single-day record was set.)

You may think (as I do, and as most sentient beings do right now) that Barack Obama will be our next president, but you must still go out and vote for the other Democrats who need to get elected to support him, so we can get the financial stability, so we can get the health care, so we can have a sane future.

The Trib says Mayor Daley thinks there will be a million or more people at the election night celebration in Grant Park, even though it's by ticket admission only (supposedly). Have sincere hopes it may end up like Woodstock, with babies being born, hookups made, and a wonderful, jubilant, peaceful time to be had by all. There has been so much sad news in Chicago this year -- it's time for a happy time.

I signed up for my ticket this afternoon, and am anxiously awaiting the email so I can print it out (I imagine that's what I'll have to do). Will make damn sure I have ink for the printer this time.

Labels: early voting, elections

- posted by Cynthia @ 2:25 PM | | | Link |

 
Early Voting in Illinois Information
NOTE: Bumped from a few days ago.
UPDATE: Bumped again.

ORIGINAL POST:
A woman at the grocery store just now said her sister stood in line for an hour and a half to vote today, but said it was a thrilling experience. She was going this afternoon. I'm going tomorrow, probably.

EDIT: First day tallies for Chicago area are HUGE -- 11,735 city, 7,616 suburbs by end of day. (thanks Wellstone, Chicagoist).

NOTE: If you want to vote early, you MUST show a picture ID -- some kind of state/government issued card like a drivers license, not just a student ID, not just your Voter Registration Card.

LAKE COUNTY: The complete list (.pdf) of early voting locations is here.

COOK COUNTY: The complete list (.pdf) of early voting locations is here.

CHICAGO: The complete list (.pdf) of early voting locations is here.

This is the schedule for the state of Illinois, directly from the website (see the side): if you're in the military, a student, etc. go there for more details, phone numbers, etc. It's not the easiest website to navigate (unlike the Cook County site, which is great).

GENERAL ELECTION November 4, 2008
Last day to register to vote October 7, 2008

Grace Period Registration and Voting
First Day October 8, 2008
Last Day October 21, 2008

Early Voting for Election
First Day October 14, 2008 (some locations in Cook, Lake, and others open 10/13)
Last Day October 30, 2008

INFORMATION FOR OTHER LOCATIONS:

maps.google.com/vote
vote411.org (League of Women Voters)

Candidate plug section:

You can also check with the Dan Seals for Congress website or call the office. If you're looking to volunteer for a good candidate on Chicago's North Shore (IL-10), you can find no one better.

If you're in the Skokie/Evanston area and are looking for a Democrat for Change in Springfield, look no further than Daniel Biss, a fantastic candidate running in the Illinois 17th District against one of the last dinosaur Republicans left on the North Shore. We desperately need FAR BETTER DEMOCRATS in Springfield -- the solution is NOT giving the state away to even non-insane Republicans. Daniel is one of the best grassroots candidates to come along in years.

If you were thinking of skipping over this race when you vote because you've never heard of him, I will quote Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (IL-9), when George Bush saw her Obama button and said, "Osama? Obama? Never heard of him." Jan replied, "You will."

Speaking of which...

Labels: early voting, elections

- posted by Cynthia @ 11:45 PM | | | Link |

 
First-Day Early Voting Totals, Lake County IL
Voting news from Lake County, IL is stunning:

Not only is there a record number of Lake County registered voters this Nov. 4 election, with 401,935 so far [ed. remember: grace period registration/voting is still going on], but there also was a record number of first-day early voters Monday.

County Clerk Willard Helander said 2,532 voters cast ballots Monday in Lake County, which beats the February 2008 primary first-day early-voter total of 643. The busiest site was Vernon Township with 281 voters. North Shore Health Center in Highland Park was the second busiest site with 251 voters, and Elawa Farm in Lake Forest was third with 219 voters.

And today is another busy day, Helander said, with 2,468 voters being served as of 2:25 p.m.

Come on, Waukegan! Come on, North Chicago! Get moving!

Labels: early voting, elections

- posted by Cynthia @ 10:13 PM | | | Link |

 
Judge To Allow Early Voting In N.W. Indiana
YES! Red state no more!

Judge To Allow Early Voting In N.W. Indiana

A circuit court judge ordered the sites to open Tuesday morning. Later CBS 2 Northwest Indiana Bureau Chief Pamela Jones met with the Superior Court judge who'd originally barred these sites from opening. He told CBS 2 now that people are voting he won't fight that.

Superior Court Judge Calvin Hawkins said he would not intervene following an earlier lower court ruling ordering polling locations be opened Tuesday morning in Gary, Hammond and East Chicago.

"It is not the intent of this court to disenfranchise voters,'' Hawkins told CBS 2. "We want every vote counted."

Voting had already started before Hawkins held a hearing on the issue Tuesday afternoon. The voting stations are located at: 15 W. 4th Ave., Gary; 232 Russell St., Hammond; and 3711 Main St., East Chicago, sometime after 10:30 a.m. Tuesday.

[...]

"People here are energized, they're focused, they are involved and there are reasons now to squash that," said voter the Rev. Dwight Gardner.

Timothy Cobbs, a disabled Vietnam veteran energized for the election, said, "I haven't been getting the proper care that I should be getting so maybe if there's a change of guard, I might get the proper care."

It's his first time voting and because of his wounds, waiting in long lines on Election Day or outside of Gary would be a problem. He values voting early and close to home.

This is so exciting! Go get 'em, Indiana! Make them cry!

Labels: early voting, elections

- posted by Cynthia @ 6:45 PM | | | Link |

 
Speaking of Early Voting....


From AMERICAblog -- Obama has bought up a whole bunch of Xbox 360 ads.

If when president Obama and his people can keep even a tenth of the creativity shown here in solving the mess Bush and his Republican cronies have made of this country, we're in really really good shape.

McCain probably doesn't even know what we're talking about.

Labels: early voting, elections, games, obama

- posted by Cynthia @ 3:06 PM | | | Link |

 
Just Voted
At Evanston Civic Center. 10 or 12 voting machines available, all were occupied when I got there, and five people in line, but it moved through quite fast. All you have to do is put your name, address, and signature on an application form, show them your photo ID, and they look it up. Then they give you a key card so you can use a machine.

The only thing confusing for me was that you're supposed to press the card in the slot until you hear a click. I couldn't hear a click, but the intro screen came up just fine, and then it was easy as pie to page back and forth among the choices, change your mind, etc. Races you have skipped come up in red.

When you're done, you can see your choices clearly printed out on the master printout which then scrolls by a page at a time so you can verify or even make a final correction.

Finally, just press the button to cast the ballot and wait until you get the confirmation screen. The card automatically pops out. DO NOT TAKE THE CARD OUT BEFORE YOU SEE THE SCREEN THAT TELLS YOU YOUR VOTE HAS BEEN RECORDED. I guess this is important enough that they even printed up and gave us reminders not to do this. If they hadn't been so busy I might have chatted with the judges more and asked about the machines (Sequoia Systems -- not the same type I used in the primary or 2 years ago -- seems much sturdier and clearer).

They said yesterday they had lines stretching all through the hallways, and that lunchtime today was busier even than yesterday.

So took my "I VOTED" sticker (which I've put on the bumper of my car) and breathed a sigh of relief.

Labels: early voting, elections

- posted by Cynthia @ 2:30 PM | | | Link |

 
Misc Posting Notes
I'm going to keep bumping the information on Early Voting in Illinois until I can't bump no more, since it's VERY IMPORTANT for people to vote early.

Why? The biggest reason is that you won't get in the way of someone who is only able to vote on election day itself. With all the new voters, young and old alike, the polling locations on November 4th are going to be packed, especially before and after work.

If you vote early, you can vote at your own convenience. Evening and weekend hours are available in some locations. In Illinois, you must have a government issued picture ID to do this, however (ie, drivers license, state id, etc.).

If you can possibly vote in off-hours (mid-morning, afternoon) try to do so. Many others don't have the flexibility you may have. I know it's exciting to be part of the big crowd, but we don't want people who may not be as committed as you are to leave a line and not come back.

If you find you have some time free to help out on election day, even for a few hours, please call the office of your favorite candidate. For example, Barack Obama, Dan Seals, or Daniel Biss . There's tons of stuff you can do, including bringing donuts and sandwiches to starving pollwatchers, or doing some watching yourself.

Labels: early voting, elections

- posted by Cynthia @ 11:12 AM | | | Link |

 
Cook County IL Grace Period Registration and Voting
Grace period registration and voting
Wednesday, October 08, 2008 - Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Wed.-Fri. (Oct. 08-10) 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Sat.-Sun. (Oct. 11-12) 9:00 a.m. - Noon
Mon.-Fri. (Oct. 13-17) 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Sat. (Oct. 18) 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Sun. (Oct. 19) 9:00 a.m. - Noon
Mon.-Tues. (Oct. 20-21) 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

At the Cook County Clerk's office:

There is only one way to register or change your address or name during the 14-day grace period.

Grace period registrants must sign up to vote in person at one of the Clerk's six locations, either in downtown Chicago at 69 W. Washington or at one of our suburban courthouse mini-centers. Please follow this link for complete addresses.

Grace period registrants must vote in person at the Clerk's office immediately after signing up to vote.

Grace period registrants are not eligible to vote at the polls on Election Day or take part in Early Voting.

-----------------------------------
This is copied directly from Voterinfonet.com I think there's a lot of misunderstanding about this topic.

The Cook County site has links to surrounding counties. For others, check your own county's website. All is not lost if you haven't registered yet -- you may have to take time off from work to do it -- but you can vote at the same time! Not a bad deal!

Even if you think it doesn't matter, that Obama is a lock, you must vote in your local elections, for any referendums in your town that may very well affect your taxes, children, school board, and well-being, and for Congresa and State Senators/Reps.

So please, don't just blow it off.

Labels: early voting, elections

- posted by Cynthia @ 11:32 PM | | | Link |

 
It's 10:30 pm. Still 1 1/2 Hrs Left to Register to Vote in Illinois
Run! Hurry! You can make it!

City Hall I know is open, and maybe a few other places. I hope someone is out there with camera and crew (I'm sure they are -- like they always do on April 15, tax day).

So you still have time to register, if you've let it slip away, or you just moved in to a new place and just got your lease.

Will post this now, in case. Check the Chicago link on the side. DO IT! I COMMAND YOU!

Labels: early voting, elections

- posted by Cynthia @ 10:28 PM | | | Link |

 
If You're Out of Work
... you'll have plenty of opportunity to vote early.

Always seeing the silver lining, that's just the way I am.

Am going to look for a link for the early voting calendar for states other than Illinois (which starts October 13). If anyone can provide one, please post it in comments. Until then, as a rule of thumb, if you can't find a link on your own, start with the website for your county, which governs the nitty-gritty of the election calendar.

UPDATE: Reed College Early Voting Center is a place to start, though the info hasn't been updated in awhile. You can follow some of the useful links too.

The reason this is important is that there are a WHOLE LOT of new voters out there, and people who oddly enough still have jobs they have to get to. The fear is that if the lines are long (since I'm sure the number of polling places hasn't been increased since the election of 1848 (when it was a sure thing the Democrats would win, but they lost to a "war hero", the Whig Zachary Taylor)) people will leave the line and won't come back after work.

So the more people who vote ahead of election day, the shorter the election day lines will be.

And if you find lines when you go to vote early, you can of course just come back another day, or choose a time in mid-morning or afternoon if you can, when business may be lighter. Many places are offering weekend or evening hours to lure you in.

Labels: early voting, elections

- posted by Cynthia @ 1:32 PM | | | Link |

 
Cook County and Lake County Early Voting Locs
UPDATE for 2008 elections:

More information for 2008 here.

LAKE COUNTY: The complete list of early voting locations is here.

COOK COUNTY: The complete list of early voting locations is here.

This is the schedule for the state of Illinois, directly from the website (see the side): if you're in the military, a student, etc. go there for more details, phone numbers, etc. It's not the easiest website to navigate (unlike the Cook County site, which is great).

GENERAL ELECTION November 4, 2008
Last day to register to vote October 7, 2008

Grace Period Registration and Voting
First Day October 8, 2008
Last Day October 21, 2008
Early Voting for Election
First Day October 14, 2008
Last Day October 30, 2008

You can also check with the Dan Seals for Congress website or call the office. If you're looking to volunteer for a good candidate on Chicago's North Shore, you can find no one better.

ORIGINAL POST:
After googling fruitlessly all over, finally remembered I got this info from the Seals for Congress campaign via email. So here it is:


Early Voting Details:

Early voting will be offered to any eligible voter, without reason (i.e. not required to be absent, physically disabled, etc.) from October 16th to November 2nd. Voters are required to present a valid Illinois driver’s license, an Illinois identification card issued by the Secretary of State, or any other government-issued identification document containing their photograph, name and address.

Lake County Voters:

Weekday voting:

During the week you can vote at the Lake County Clerk’s office located in Waukegan from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Mon, Tues & Wed. On Thursdays the Clerk will stay open until 6:00 p.m. and Friday’s until 7:30 p.m.

You can also vote in your Township office from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Mon, Tues, Wed, & Fri (except Warren which stays open until 5:00 p.m.). Thursdays the Township offices will stay open until 6:00 p.m.

Weekends:

Voters are also allowed to Early Vote on Saturday, October 21st and Saturday, October 28th at the above locations from 9:00 a.m. to noon. In addition, the Lake County Clerk’s Office will be open for early voting on Sunday, October 22nd and Sunday, October 29th from 9:00 a.m. to noon.

Locations:

The following is a list of Lake County Early Voting Locations (Note: only locations serving the 10th District are listed):

Lake County Clerk’s Office
18 N. County St., Waukegan
847/377-2400

Libertyville Township
359 Merrill Ct. Libertyville
847/816-6800

Moraine Township
777 Central Ave., Highland Park
847/432-3240

City of Highland Park
1707 St. Johns Ave., Highland Park
847/432-0800

Shields Township
906 Muir Ave., Lake Bluff
847/234-0802

City of Lake Forest
220 E. Deerpath, Lake Forest
847/234-2600

Vernon Township
3050 N. Main St., Buffalo Grove
847/634-4600

Village of Vernon Hills
290 Evergreen Dr., Vernon Hills
847/367-3700

Warren Township
17801 W. Washington St., Gurnee
847/244-1101

West Deerfield Township
601 Deerfield Rd., Deerfield
847/872-2811

Cook County Voters:

Weekday voting:

Voting hours are from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Weekends:

On Saturday, October 21st and Saturday, October 28th, voting hours are 9:00 a.m. to noon. Early voting will also be held from 9:00 a.m. to noon on Sundays at the five suburban courthouses as well as the Cook County Clerk's office located at 69 W. Washington St. in Chicago.

Locations:

Cook County Administration Building
69 W. Washington, Chicago
Concourse Level

Buffalo Grove Village Hall
50 Raupp Blvd.
847/459-2511

Palatine Village Hall
200 E. Wood St.
847/359-9051

Northbrook Village Hall
1225 Cedar Ln.
847/272-5050

Evanston Village Hall
2100 Ridge Ave.
847/866-2925

Park Ridge Village Hall
505 Butler Pl.
847/318-5209

Schaumburg Village Hall
1 Illinois Blvd.
847/884-0030

Skokie Village Hall
5127 Oakton St.
847/673-0500

Skokie Courthouse Mini Center
5600 W. Old orchard Rd., Room 149
847/470-7233

Rolling Meadows Courthouse Mini Center
2121 Euclid Ave., Room 238
847/818-2850

Labels: early voting, elections

- posted by Cynthia @ 7:56 PM | | | Link |