HOW TO VOTE

First, you’ll want to check your voter registration card for your polling place location. If you do not have this card, you can easily look it up HERE for Chicago residents or HERE for Cook County residents. In general your polling place will be located at a school, church, or other community gathering place.

On Tuesday, February 5, go to your polling place between the hours of 6:00AM and 7:00PM to vote. When you arrive at your polling place location, make sure you are in the correct line – some polling places serve two or three precincts in one room. You’ll be asked for your name and address. The judge of elections will find your name in their book, and you will then be asked to sign the ballot application form. The judge of elections will compare your signature to the one that is on record. You will NOT be asked for identification, as per the Voting Rights Act passed by the U.S. Congress to protect the rights of citizens to vote. If you are asked for identification, it should only be due to a discrepancy in your records. Under the law your signature is your proof of identification.

You will then be asked to declare your party affiliation – Democrat, Republican, or Green Party. If you do not declare a party, you will be given a nonpartisan ballot and will only be able to vote on the referendum question. That said you should definitely declare a party. You will then be given the ballot for your party preference and you can proceed to vote. Note that you can usually choose electronic OR paper balloting – in Cook County, both are equally secure from fraud as there is a paper trail for the electronic machines which cannot be tampered with.

If you have any problems on Election Day, or you feel your right to vote is being unfairly challenged, or you are being intimidated by campaign workers or election officials, you should call 911 and report it to the police. They will then send a State’s Attorney to the polling place to investigate.

Good luck and happy voting!