The Chicago Public Square Illinois Primary Voter Guide Guide

Early and mail voting is underway in the Illinois primary. Don’t cast your ballot in ignorance. Square’s here to help—with a guide to voter guides.

Mark your calendar.

■ March 12: Last day for your election authority to receive vote-by-mail applications …

■ … but you can register and vote on Election Day itself.

■ March 17: Election Day—from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Be ready.

■ Learn how to vote in Illinois from Capitol News Illinois and WBEZ.

■ Study guides to statewide, Cook County and Chicago contests from WTTW and Chicago Public Media.

■ Register to vote in Chicago and suburban Cook County.
■ Outside Cook County? See your county’s website: DuPage, Lake, Will, Kane, McHenry, Kendall …
■ … or the Illinois State Board of Elections.

■ Available to help Election Day? Chicago and Cook County need poll workers.

Be smart.

■ See candidate forums hosted by the League of Women Voters.

■ Every item and race, explained: BallotReady and Ballotpedia.

■ Build your ballot here.

■ Check out the Evanston Roundtable’s profiles of candidates in contested primaries for Congress and the General Assembly.

■ Read Senate candidates’ answers to a Capitol News Illinois questionnaire.

■ Consider endorsements from the Chicago Tribune (in a print-and-clip format here), the Girl, I Guess Progressive Voter Guide, Sen. Bernie Sanders, the City That Works blog, META-SPIEL proprietor Phil Huckelberry, the Chicago Federation of Labor, N’DIGO founder Hermene Hartman and veteran political strategist Don Rose.

■ Have questions for the candidates? WBEZ wants your suggestions here.

Judge the candidates.

■ Slice through all those judicial races—46 candidates running for 29 vacancies in Cook County alone—with bar association ratings …

■ … judicial primary guides from Injustice Watch and the For What It’s Worth law blog.

■ … and columnist Ed McDevitt’s analysis of all that to call out judicial candidates rated as “Not Qualified” or “Not Recommended” by one or more bar associations.

Do it.

■ Here’s where to vote Election Day in Chicago and the suburbs.

■ Trouble at your polling place? Call 866-OUR-VOTE.

Go beyond.

■ Get updates around the clock on the Square Bluesky page.

■ Be informed for every election. Sign up for Square email, sent to your inbox (free!) weekday mornings at 10.

■ If you’ve found this useful, you can help keep Square coming with a contribution—of as little as $1, just once.

This is a work in progress.

■ Spot a mistake? Know of another source that’ll help people vote smart? Email Voterguide@ChicagoPublicSquare.com.