Vote Today Until 7 pm

Cross Posted from ICPR's blog, The Race is On:

The radio this morning noted that today is the warmest Election Day in over 40 years, so the weather will likely not discourage voters. I always vote at 6 am when the polls open and today, for the first time, there was a line winding through the parking lot when I arrived. I was finished by 6:20, but still, I saw nothing to suggest that the surge in early voting will not be duplicated on Election Day.

Polls in Illinois are open until 7 pm. As long as you are in line at your polling place by 7 pm, you should be allowed to vote (and please be sure to check both sides of the paper ballot). If you need to know where you vote, the State Board of Elections has links to the 110 local election authorities around the state that manage each individual precinct. Most of these are county-wide authorities, but 8 follow municipal boundaries. Some have websites that will tell you where to vote; others, especially the smaller ones, may require a phone call. Plan ahead, and the day will go more smoothly.

If you have not yet figured out which judges to vote for (and there are dozens on the ballot) here are two resources: illinoisvotersguide.org offers information on all judicial candidates, including those running for retention. If you live in Cook County, voteforjudges.org has evaluations from over a dozen different bar and lawyers' groups. The State Board of Elections also offers a voters guide for statewide and some judicial candidates.

The Attorney General's Office has deployed staff to deal with any problems at polling places. If you see or experience problems that the election judges cannot or will not fix, call the Attorney General's Office. In the Chicago area, call 1-866-536-3496; downstate, call 1-866-559-6812