jennifer / July 28, 2004 10:31 AM

yes, and yes.

this upcoming election makes me so nervous. after voting, i'll be watching the news coverage until the final tally is in. then i will either cry or have a party.

Brenda / July 28, 2004 10:34 AM

About a month ago I was trying to remember if I was registered to vote at my current address, and then I received my voter registration card in the mail the same day. So -- yes and yes!

Mike / July 28, 2004 10:36 AM

Oh yeah, I even helped get a couple other people registered. Chicago is pretty good about putting a polling place every couple of blocks. Mine is only down the street. I know that out in Aurora, people are driving several miles to vote.

vit / July 28, 2004 11:06 AM

Yes and yes. polling place is pretty close too, this election though is enough to put anyone on edge.

Benjy / July 28, 2004 11:17 AM

Yes, I'm registered to vote and know where my polling place is -- it's in the lobby of my building! How convenient is that?

Andrew / July 28, 2004 11:21 AM

Yes and yes, although we'll be moving between now and the election. I'm not sure if we'll have time to revise our registration (I don't think we can change it until we're officially in the new place), so I might just leave it and vote in our old district.

Alice / July 28, 2004 11:25 AM

Yes and yes. I voted in the state primary, and my polling place is about 100 yds. from my apartment.

Dawson / July 28, 2004 11:32 AM

Supposedly I registered in February when I got my license, but I never received my card in the mail. Guess it's time to call.

amyc / July 28, 2004 11:33 AM

Andrew, if you're in your new place before Oct. 1, register there. I can help you -- I have the power! (And the forms. I'm a volunteer voter registrar.)

Eamon / July 28, 2004 11:47 AM

Yes and no. We just moved last month, and I'm waiting for my new voter's card. I did vote in the primary, fwiw.

paul / July 28, 2004 11:50 AM

I actually registered twice by accident when I renewed my license (no, they won't let me vote twice). And my polling place is right across the street. It's nice when democracy is so close.

Ann S. VanMoxie / July 28, 2004 12:18 PM

I registered again when I moved a few months ago. It seems our Polling Place is at a bar down the street. Different places I've lived have used church basements (Logan Square) and senior citizen's centers (Wicker Park), but in Albany Park, it's a bar. I think I'm gonna like it here.

Andrew / July 28, 2004 12:19 PM

Amy, I think I'll take you up on that.

+mojan. / July 28, 2004 12:31 PM

Yup, yup, I'm registered. And lucky for me I just have to roll out of bed and walk across the street to my polling place.

Archie / July 28, 2004 1:23 PM

yes and yes, this will be the first time im deciding to not be so lazy and vote this year, because i like care and stuff :)

Schecki / July 28, 2004 1:48 PM

Yes and yes!

And my polling place is all of 50 feet from my front door. Hooray!

Also, suburban Cook County types, I found this site which, amongst other things, will allow you to check and see if you're already registered. Unfortunately, it's no help for city dwellers...

http://www.voterinfonet.com/sub/am_i_registered.asp

vit / July 28, 2004 1:51 PM

I once voted in the lobby of a transient hotel.

shechemist / July 28, 2004 1:53 PM

yes and yes.

AmyC. I might be popping by your place to pick up a form. ManCoon hasn't voted in the past 8 years, and needs to register.

Steve / July 28, 2004 2:13 PM

Yes and maybe. (I think when they mailed the card the big piece of cardboard it arrived on listed my polling place.)

The city likes to keep you waiting -- the girl and I sent in our old cards for an address update when we moved on May 1, and didn't get our new cards until a few weeks ago.

At my last address, the polling place was a funeral home. Very appropriate for the '02 midterms, even with the Rahm and Rod shows....

Heather S. / July 28, 2004 2:36 PM

Yes. Our polling place is in this huge old grade school (with that old school smell too) Is it just me or are the punch ballots fun to do? Though I am always fearful I am punching incorrectly.

sousboy / July 28, 2004 3:22 PM

yes. thank god i live in Chicago where punch cards still exist and our votes count unlike Florida where all the voting records can and still do disappear with there wonderful optical scan ballots.also its so nice that our polling places are always just around the corner.

Carly / July 28, 2004 3:28 PM

Yes and Yes.

I turned in my address change today, though I moved into an apartment in the same building.

My polling place is super close, which is nice.

Kenan / July 28, 2004 3:49 PM

I'm sho 'nuff registered, and ain't nobody gonna keep me away from my polling place. It's in the same place they hold 12 step meetings, about 2 blocks away.

And yeah, it's nice being in a densely populated area. I remember having to drive across town to vote.

Shylo / July 28, 2004 4:44 PM

oh, crap. i have to re-register. The fourth time in two years.

Lisa / July 28, 2004 5:35 PM

Yes and no. Will my registration card ever show up?

Having said that, past experience with this thing we call "voting" leads me to believe that the elementary school at the end of my block is most likely going to be my polling place.

eliina / July 28, 2004 10:16 PM

hell yeah i'm registered. i'm moving in september though, so i'll have to remember to do the whole change of address thing.

Armaghetto / July 28, 2004 11:19 PM

Yes, I'm registered.

I called around looking for the address to the polling place last year. When I gave them my address 1421 w blablabla, there was a pause and "Sir, the polling place is 1422 w blablabla." The school across the street.

Lyle from Lisle / July 29, 2004 1:56 AM

My experience echoes Steve's. I've been registered forever, tried the mail-in change-of-address, and am still waiting months later for confirmation. I know it hasn't gone through yet, from address lookup via County Clerk's website. I could probably solve it by wasting half an hour at a satellite County Clerk's office, but then I worry about further messing, like ending up double-registered or something.

Steve / July 29, 2004 7:24 AM

This thread piqued my interest, so I just dug out my shiny new VR card. No surprise that my polling place is just a few blocks away, but it's in the wrong direction! That is, it's totally out of the way for me in terms of my morning routine, so I'll probably wait to vote until after work. Man, this democracy thing is hard....

Krissy / July 29, 2004 11:03 AM

I recently moved, so I have a new polling place. My old one was a school on Augusta and Oakley, and my new one is a school on Augusta and Leavitt. You can literally see one from the other. Crazy.

amyc / July 29, 2004 12:45 PM

Steve, generally employers give you up to two hours on election day of paid time off, so maybe you could go into work a little late. Or maybe you could just drag your ass out of bed a little early once every two years to participate in the democratic process like a true citizen! (And wear your "I voted" sticker all day long, impressing all your co-workers.)

Alice / July 29, 2004 12:52 PM

In Chicago, to find out if you're registered at all or at your new addres or whatever, go to the website for the Board of Election Commissioners for the City of Chicago at http://66.107.4.19/

Click on Online Services A) Registration Status. Then, just enter your address to find out if you're registered AND to find out your nearest polling place. If you have any problems, you can also call 312-269-7923.

Find more voter registration links in the column I wrote before the primaries at:
http://www.gapersblock.com/airbags/archives/illinois_voter_registration_and_election_resources/

Steve / July 29, 2004 12:53 PM

Wait a minute, Amy -- we have to vote every two years? This democracy thing gets harder all the time!

Can't we just let, oh, 48 percent of the eligible populace vote for all of us? Or even a council of, say, nine learned men and women decide who should rule?

Steve / July 29, 2004 1:00 PM

More seriously though, I've never had a problem getting to the polling place before work. But the two-hours-off-from-work thing, that is new to me. Hmmm, why wouldn't my Texas-based employer promote this idea?

Which gives me a radical idea -- why not make Election Day a national holiday, to give all citizens a better chance to vote? It's a crazy idea, but surely someone somewhere must have tried it at some point!

amyc / July 29, 2004 2:50 PM

If we gave everybody election day off, most people would just take three-day weekend vacations or go shopping, like they do on all the other national holidays.

Kris / July 29, 2004 3:25 PM

I just updated my address, after going back to my old, neighboring precinct to vote in the primaries. I'm staring at my new polling place right now--it's the school outside my window! Right next door! I can vote in my jammies! God bless democracy.