Suburban Cook County's Early Voting starts Monday at 43 locations

Early Voting for the March 20 Presidential Primary Election is set to start Monday, February 27 at 42 locations in suburban Cook County and one in downtown Chicago, according to Cook County Clerk David Orr You don't have to wait until March 20 to cast a vote in this election, Orr said. Take advantage of the convenience of Early Voting. Early Voting runs through March 15. Suburban Cook County voters can cast their ballots at any of the 42 suburban sites, and the clerk's downtown location. Hours and addresses are listed below and at cookcountyclerk.com. Chicago voters must use Early Voting locations in the city, which they can find at chicagoelections.com. All suburban Cook County voters will receive an election notice in the mail that provides their closest Early Voting location, as well as their Election Day precinct. Suburban locations are open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Select suburban locations have Sunday hours from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Early voters do not need a conflict or excuse to vote before election day, but they must have a government-issued photo ID such as a current driver's license, state ID, passport, or military ID. Contests for the primary include: President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, State Senators, State Representatives, Circuit Court Clerk, State Supreme Court judges, and local referendums. Voters do not register by party in Illinois, but voters must choose a party when casting a ballot in a primary election. Early Voting participation in primary elections has steadily grown since it was introduced in March 2006 from less than 5 percent of ballots cast to over twice that in February 2010. March 2006 Primary: 15,609 of 345,970 (4.49% of turnout) February 2008 Primary: 51,116 of 585,449 (8.73% of turnout) February 2010 Primary: 34,688 of 367,688 (10.6% of turnout) For the first time in a presidential primary, voters can apply for mail ballots and vote from home. Mail voting also lets voters cast their ballots before Election Day, if they request a ballot by March 15. My job is to make voting more accessible, so we've added yet another tool to our toolkit, added Orr. If you can't make it to an Early Voting site, you can now use our Vote by Mail Program. Details on mail voting, plus sample ballots, directions to Early Voting locations and candidate information are also at cookcountyclerk.com