By Townhall Chicago News Staff
Early voting locations across all 50 Chicago wards are open ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm general election, with several key deadlines approaching in the coming days, according to the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners.
Ward-level early voting sites opened Oct. 19 and will continue operating through Election Day. Downtown early voting has been available since Sept. 24 at the New Downtown Voting Supersite at 137 S. State St. and the board’s offices at 69 W. Washington St.
The deadline to apply for a vote-by-mail ballot is Oct. 29, according to the board’s election calendar. Vote-by-mail ballots have been mailed to applicants since Sept. 24.
All early voting locations are ADA-compliant and accessible to voters with disabilities, according to the board. Voters may cast ballots at any early voting site in the city regardless of their home address.
Ballots are available in 12 languages on touchscreen voting machines: English, Spanish, Chinese, Hindi, Polish, Korean, Tagalog, Gujarati, Urdu, Arabic, Ukrainian and Russian. Many ward sites also have bilingual voting officials present, according to the board’s website.
The Nov. 3 ballot includes races for U.S. senator, Illinois governor and lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, comptroller and treasurer. Voters will also select representatives in Congress, state senators, state representatives and commissioners of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago.
Cook County offices on the ballot include president of the Board of Commissioners, county clerk, sheriff, treasurer, assessor, county commissioners and a commissioner of the Board of Review. Judicial retention questions and the first elected members of the Chicago Board of Education are also before voters, according to the board.
Same Day Registration is available at all early voting sites and will be offered at all precinct polling places and vote centers on Election Day. Voters using same-day registration must present two forms of identification, at least one showing their current address.
Online voter registration closed Oct. 18. Paper voter registration ended Oct. 6.
Candidates for the Feb. 23, 2027, municipal and aldermanic elections in Chicago are currently in a petition filing period that runs through Oct. 26, according to the election calendar. The objection filing period for those candidacies opens Oct. 27 and runs through Nov. 2.
On Election Day, polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Voters may cast ballots at their assigned precinct polling place or at any of the 51 vote centers open across the city.
Voters can verify their registration, locate their polling place or check the status of a vote-by-mail ballot at the board’s website, chicagoelections.gov.
