Vote.
November 5 will be the last day for citizens across the country to cast their votes for federal offices of president, Congress, and Senate. Here, it will also be the last day to vote in statewide and local races for offices such as the Cook County state’s attorney, judges, and Metropolitan Water Reclamation District commissioners. Chicagoans will also be casting votes for members of the Chicago Board of Education for the first time ever.
In this issue you will find write-ups on school board candidates for South Side districts, produced by Chalkbeat and Block Club Chicago, as well as a comprehensive guide for your judicial retention races produced by Injustice Watch and inserted into the paper. As a small team, we’re thrilled to be able to partner with and republish the stellar reporting of other Chicago outlets and bring you information to help make informed choices in the voting booth.
Need to register, change your address on file, or check your registration status? Head over to chicagoelections.gov/voting for more information on how to do all those things. Early voting locations opened this Monday, October 21, and can be found in every ward in the city and two downtown; you can vote at any of them and check out the link above to find one closest to you. Early voting sites are open 9am–6pm on weekdays, 9am–5pm on Saturdays, and 10am–4pm on Sundays. On Election Day itself, they will be open 6am–7pm.
If you want to vote by mail, the deadline to register for a mail ballot is October 31 at 5pm, which you can also do online at the address above. You can drop off mail ballots at any USPS mailbox, or secured drop off boxes at early voting locations. For your vote to count, the ballot must be postmarked on or before Election Day. If you drop it off at your Postal Service mailbox on or near Election Day, it may be postmarked late, depending on when the couriers come by to collect from that box.
Migrant shelters and landing zone to close
Several temporary shelters that opened under former mayor Lori Lightfoot and expanded—and have been a source of contention—in Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration are set to close as migration drops. The biggest shelter, located on Halsted, and a shelter on Ogden closed this month. Most recently, the city has cleared the Chicago Lake Shore Hotel in Hyde Park and the Standard Social Club in the Loop. A state-run tent shelter in Little Village is also set to close by November 3. The Woodlawn and Piotrowski Park shelters closed in the spring, and the Chicago Park District vacated all of its fieldhouses over the summer. As of publication, there are still thirteen city- and state-run shelters operating, according to the Department of Family and Support Services. The landing zone for new arrivals at 800 S. Desplaines will be phased out by December 31.