Voting Near Me: How Chicago Voters Find Their Polling Place Before Election Day
"Voting near me" is one of the most searched phrases in America today. In Chicago the answer is simpler than in most cities: on Tuesday you can vote at your precinct or at any vote center in the city — and Monday is the last day to vote early.
"Voting near me" ranks among the five most searched phrases in the United States today, according to the Google Trends snapshot read by this desk — and in Chicago, the search has a forgiving answer. On Election Day, Tuesday, November 3, Chicago voters may cast their ballot at their assigned precinct polling place or at any vote center in the city, with polls open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., according to the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners' official 2026 calendar.
For voters who do not want to wait for Tuesday, Monday, November 2 is the last day of early voting. The city's 55 early-voting sites — the downtown Voting Supersite at 137 S. State Street, the Board's offices at 69 W. Washington Street, and a site in every ward — close out the early season Monday, with ward sites open until 6 p.m. and the downtown locations until 7 p.m. Any Chicago voter may use any early-voting site, regardless of where in the city they live.
Mail voters have their own map. Secured drop boxes stand at the Supersite and in the lobby of 69 W. Washington Street, and a ballot returned in person or by drop box must be in by the close of polls on Tuesday; a mailed ballot must be postmarked by Election Day and received by the Board by November 17 to be counted. The Board's site, chicagoelections.gov, carries the precinct lookup and a sample ballot for every voter — worth the two minutes tonight, because some wards and precincts carry extra questions beyond the citywide ballot.
