Early voting for the March 17 primary election in Cook County begins March 2 and continues through March 16.
James Scalzitti, director of communications at the Cook County Clerk’s office, said early voting has become increasingly popular over the years. Almost 108,000 voters in suburban Cook County opted to avoid Election Day in 2016 by voting early, compared to almost 37,000 in the 2012 presidential election, according to records.
Convenience is the main reason for the increase, Scalzitti said, because suburban residents can vote at any of 54 locations on weekdays and weekends. Downtown locations allow for early voting before March 2.
“We realize that there are people who like to vote on Election Day itself, but since you never know what’s going to happen, because life might get in the way sometimes of your voting times, we just encourage people to vote early when they have the opportunity,” Scalzitti said.
Bringing an ID can speed up the process, he said, but no documents are required before voting.
Nancy Marcus, voting service chair for the League of Women Voters in Cook County said people can also register to vote at early voting locations, but must bring two forms of ID, one of which shows their current address.
Voting is done on touch screen devices, and there are also new machines this year, which he compared to an iPad. The machines were offered at select locations last year, but now will be at all suburban locations.
Marcus said the machines will print out a ballot with all of the voter’s selections to be reviewed before being handed to an election judge. Changes can be made before the ballot becomes official.
Scalzitti said the county updated its machines with security measures while also giving them more user friendly features.
Niles Village Clerk Marlene Victorine said early voting is especially helpful for senior citizens. The Niles village hall serves as an early voting location.
“We have a lot of seniors in Niles and they like the convenience of coming in and early voting,” Victorine said. “We have the touch screens, which are nice. The location is good. There’s not usually a line when you come in. It’s a good environment to vote in.”
Scalzitti said Illinois could be especially important as part of the Super Tuesday primaries.
“This is a big election, and come March 17, all eyes will be on Illinois, but voters should not let any fears of long lines or crowded polling places keep them from voting,” Scalzitti wrote in an email.
Voting locations
Find a complete list at https://cookcountyclerk.com/agency/early-voting
North suburbs:
EVANSTON CIVIC CENTER, 2100 Ridge Ave., Evanston
SKOKIE COURTHOUSE, ROOM 149, 5600 Old Orchard Road, Skokie
SKOKIE VILLAGE HALL 5127 Oakton St., Skokie
WILMETTE (CENTENNIAL ICE RINKS), 2300 Old Glenview Rd., Wilmette
NILES VILLAGE HALL, 1000 Civic Center Drive, Niles
NORTHBROOK VILLAGE HALL, 1225
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Cedar Lane, NorthbrookGLENVIEW VILLAGE HALL, 2500 E Lake Ave., Glenview
West suburbs
OAK PARK VILLAGE HALL123 Madison St., Oak Park
ELMWOOD PARK VILLAGE HALL, 11 W Conti Pkwy., Elmwood Park
FRANKLIN PARK VILLAGE HALL, 9500 Belmont Ave., Franklin Park
NORRIDGE VILLAGE HALL, 4000 N Olcott Ave., Norridge
Northwest suburbs
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS VILLAGE HALL, 33 S Arlington Heights Rd., Arlington Heights
BARRINGTON HILLS VILLAGE HALL, 112 Algonquin Road, Barrington
PALATINE VILLAGE HALL, 200 E Wood St., Palatine
PARK RIDGE (CENTENNIAL ACTIVITY CENTER), 100 S Western Ave., Park Ridge
Following are sample Democratic and Republican ballots. This example is from Niles. See your exact ballot at https://www.cookcountyclerk.com/
Democratic Ballot
PRESIDENT, U.S.
4-Year Term
CANDIDATES:
Amy J. Klobuchar
Deval Patrick
Bernie Sanders
Joseph R. Biden
Michael R. Bloomberg
Elizabeth Warren
Pete Buttigieg
Tom Steyer
Andrew Yang
Michael Bennet
John K. Delaney
Tulsi Gabbard
Cory Booker
SENATOR, U.S.
6-Year Term
CANDIDATE:
Richard J. Durbin
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE, 9TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
2-Year Term
CANDIDATE:
Janice D. Schakowsky
STATE REPRESENTATIVE, 15TH REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT
2-Year Term
CANDIDATE:
John C. D’Amico
STATE’S ATTORNEY, COOK COUNTY
4-Year Term
CANDIDATES:
Kim Foxx
Bill Conway
Donna More
Bob Fioretti
CLERK OF THE CIRCUIT COURT, COOK COUNTY
4-Year Term
CANDIDATES:
Jacob Meister
Iris Y. Martinez
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Richard R. Boykin
Michael M. Cabonargi
JUDGE, ILLINOIS SUPREME COURT
(Vacancy of Freeman)
CANDIDATES:
Jesse G Reyes
P. Scott Neville, Jr.
Shelly A. Harris
Cynthia Y. Cobbs
Margaret Stanton McBride
Daniel Epstein
Nathaniel Roosevelt Howse
JUDGE, ILLINOIS APPELLATE COURT
(Vacancy of Neville Jr.)
CANDIDATES:
Maureen Patricia O’Leary
Carolyn J. Gallagher
Sandra Gisela Ramos
Michael B. Hyman
JUDGE, ILLINOIS APPELLATE COURT
(Vacancy of Simon)
CANDIDATES:
John Griffin
Sharon O. Johnson
JUDGE, COOK COUNTY JUDICIAL CIRCUIT
(Numerous judicial races will be on the ballot.)
Republican Ballot
PRESIDENT, U.S.
4-Year Term
CANDIDATE:
Donald J Trump
Roque ‘Rocky’ De La Fuente
SENATOR, U.S.
6-Year Term
CANDIDATES:
Mark C. Curran Jr.
Tom Tarter
Casey Chlebek
Peggy Hubbard
Robert Marshall
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE, 9TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
2-Year Term
CANDIDATE:
Sargis Sangari
STATE REPRESENTATIVE, 15TH REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT
2-Year Term
NO CANDIDATE
STATE’S ATTORNEY, COOK COUNTY
4-Year Term
CANDIDATES:
Patrick W. ‘Pat’ O’Brien
Christopher E. K. Pfannkuche
CLERK OF THE CIRCUIT COURT, COOK COUNTY
4-Year Term
CANDIDATE:
Barbara Bellar
JUDGE, ILLINOIS SUPREME COURT
(Vacancy of Freeman)
NO CANDIDATE
JUDGE, ILLINOIS APPELLATE COURT, 1ST DISTRICT
(Vacancy of Neville Jr.)
NO CANDIDATE
JUDGE, ILLINOIS APPELLATE COURT, 1ST DISTRICT
(Vacancy of Simon)
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NO CANDIDATE