What you need to know about Election Day in Chicago

The polls

Polls are already open (6am) and will stay open until 7pm.

• If you are in line to vote when the polls close at 7pm, you can still vote.
• If you are voting by mail, the ballot must be postmarked by Election Day to count.

State of play: Voters can go to their assigned polling place, or they can go to select early voting sites. Look up your precinct location or the nearest early voting center here.

• You can still register to vote today at your home precinct or any early voting site. You need two forms of ID with at least one listing you current address.
• If you don't have a ride to the polls, both Uber and Lyft are offering discounts. Also, SpotHero is giving 10% off for first-time users of the parking app.

Zoom in: You are not allowed to wear political propaganda or hand out literature within 100 feet of a Chicago polling place. You also cannot take photos of your ballot while voting.

Ballot and voter security

This election season, some states have reported unsuccessful hacks to their voting systems and ballot box tampering.

Flashback: While Illinois isn't one of those states, it was one of a handful of states whose voting machines were hacked in 2016.

The latest: Those incidents have led to new protocols like testing machines before and after the election, including an audit after the polls close to make sure the machines worked correctly. This includes both touchscreen voting machines and ones that collect paper ballots.

• The Chicago Board of Elections also has a comprehensive security plan protecting the ballot boxes.

Of note: No voting machine is ever connected to the internet at any time. After polls close, results are transmitted to the main office by secured cellular service. Printed ballots are physically delivered.

What to do: If you are in a polling place or witness someone trying to tamper with a drop box, the Office of Emergency Management and Communications is asking you to call 9-1-1.

• They are also activating their Emergency Operation Center to monitor election-related events and weather. Yep, it's going to rain.
• Also, here's what poll watchers can and can't do at polling places.

Results

While most statewide, county, city and congressional races may be called Tuesday night, there is precedent for it to take longer.

• In the Cook County state's attorney primary in March, it took more than 10 days to call the race. In 2020, it took over a week for the 14th Congressional District results.

Election boards around the state will start counting ballots after the polls close at 7pm. In Chicago, the election board says the first to be tabulated will be mail-in votes that were cast before Monday and ballots cast during early voting.

• Mail-in votes collected Monday and after Election Day will be processed in the coming days.
• There is a two-week counting period before the election results are certified.

The bottom line: For modern-day elections, it's important to set your expectations that some races will most likely not be called on Election Day, including for president.