The Chicago Public Square Voter Guide Guide, Fall 2026

Election Day’s Nov. 3. Don’t cast your ballot in ignorance. Square’s here to help—with a guide to voter guides.

Be ready.

■ You can register to vote on Election Day itself, but—this year especially—don’t wait.

■ Generate a customized ballot for suburban Cook County or Chicago.

■ Your ballot, explained: BallotReady and Ballotpedia.

■ Outside Cook County? Learn more at your county’s website: DuPage, Lake, Will, Kane, McHenry, Kendall …
■ … or from the Illinois State Board of Elections.

■ Outside Illinois? Start here.

Get schooled.

■ Consult the League of Women Voters Education Fund’s Vote411 site to see what’s on your ballot, register to vote and check your registration.

■ Check voter guides from the Tribune (gift link), Axios, City Cast, the Sun-Times and WBEZ …

■ … and Chalkbeat’s guide to the first election of the full Chicago School Board.

■ Meet board presidential candidates in a WTTW-TV town hall.

■ See answers candidates for Congress, the Illinois General Assembly and Cook County state’s attorney have given for the Sun-Times’ survey.

■ Review all those judicial candidates via the Alliance of Bar Associations ratings roundup and Injustice Watch.

■ Consider the Girl, I Guess Guide to the 2026 General Election in Cook County and Beyond.

■ Want to know which candidates are taking whose cash? Transparency USA, Illinois Sunshine and the Illinois Elections Board are tracking that.

■ Popular Information’s PaidForBy app lets you upload a snapshot of a political mailer to learn who really funded it.

■ See editorial endorsements from the co-owned Daily Herald and Tribune—although (go figure) many are behind a paywall and “a corporate edict … prevents us from making formal endorsements in the Illinois races for U.S. Senate and governor” …

■ … but the Trib’s “bedsheet ballot,” a names-only list of its picks, is printable free here.

Do it.

■ Arrange to vote by mail here for Chicagoans; and here for others in Illinois.

■ Find where to vote in Chicago and the Cook County suburbs …

■ … or, anywhere else: “Where’s My F**king Polling Place?”

■ Want to vote early, in person? Chicago voters can do that here; other Illinoisans, check here.

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

■ Election judges wanted.

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

■ The ACLU explains how to exercise your voting rights, resist voter intimidation efforts and access disability-related accommodations and language assistance …

■ … or 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.

■ Know someone else ready to vote? Share this guide with a friend.

Trump’s plans / Exposed! / School death probe / DoorCart?

Trump’s plans. Popular Information surveys the president’s tools for undermining the results of next week’s election.

■ WBEZ: Trump’s Justice Department has singled out at least two Democratic-leaning Indiana counties for election monitoring.

■ Democracy Docket proprietor Marc Elias: “Trump will grow more desperate. DOJ will be further weaponized.”

■ The AP: “Stolen election rhetoric from Trump isn’t new. His ability to act on those claims is” …

■ … witness his move to block the Senate outcome in Alaska …

■ … whose Republican governor is ordering an investigation into whether the Democrat in that race should face criminal charges for recruiting a guy named Dan J. Sullivan to join the field of those challenging incumbent Republican Dan S. Sullivan (New York Times gift link).

■ Dan J., as a Tribune article noted in August (gift link), grew up in Chicago’s southwest suburbs and is the brother of sports columnist Paul Sullivan.

■ Columnist Bob Lefsetz: “It’s hard to believe Democrats occupy the moral high ground with shenanigans like this.”

■ The American Prospect: It’s all about Michigan, Michigan, Michigan.

Hey, kids! Voter fraud! Minnesota prosecutors have filed felony counts of ID theft and unlawful voting …

■ … against, um, a pair of “conservative influencers.”

‘He’s completely out of touch.’ Jimmy Kimmel was astonished by Trump’s assertion to his fans that they couldn’t afford to eat at Mar-a-Lago: “That’s probably for the best. When he is in touch, it’s usually without consent.”

■ Seth Meyers’ paraphrase: “Go behind Mar-a-Lago by the trash bins. It’s where we throw out the gristle and fat from our high-end steaks.”

■ Jed Rosenzweig at LateNighter: For the first midterm election in 24 years, none of the late-night shows will go live Tuesday night.

■ The Onion: “Trump’s Eyes Roll Back After Receiving Vision Of Muscular Asses That Have Not Yet Come To Pass.”

‘How low do you have to go to embarrass clergy while they are praying for your very soul?’ A Trib editorial (free link) condemns the administration for its treatment of visiting Catholic leaders.

■ More than two dozen Chicago-area religious leaders and others yesterday met with the pope in support of immigrants held in the Broadview concentration camp.

‘My secret ballot is secret no more!’ Columnist Eric Zorn shares how he voted.

■ Ready to cast yours? Check the Chicago Public Square Voter Guide Guide.

Exposed! Block Club Illinois Answers Project: A Chicago mayoral candidate’s website has made available for download by anyone the voting history of 1.5 million residents.

■ TechCrunch: A hacker’s snared Homeland Security records including the names and contact information for employees and agents with—among others—Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

■ BlueSky’s blocking links to that data.

FBI shooting. An agent was involved in the death of a man yesterday in the suburb of Dixmoor …

■ … the second such bureau incident here in three days.

School death probe. The Trib reports (free link) that police are investigating the case of a teen girl who yesterday gave birth to a baby who died at a Far South Side elementary school.

■ The Sun-Times: Records show a Chicago school board member was suspended from his job at a charter school after “unwanted touching” of a coworker.

DoorCart? DoorDash is offering to buy Instacart for $17 billion …

■ … a deal that ran afoul of antitrust law under the Biden administration.

■ Axios is looking to know why those restaurant surcharges linger long after the pandemic has passed.

■ Speaking of doors, tech columnist Kim Komando flags a Halloween prank going viral across the nation: Teens kicking in front doors and filming the crime for TikTok.

He’s heeeeere. Defeated in Brazil’s presidential elections, Trump ally—and corruption, money laundering and tax evasion suspect—Flávio Bolsonaro and his family have arrived in Florida.

■ Historian Heather Cox Richardson calls the story “odd … and becoming odder.”

‘Why wouldn’t Google tell me who won the 2020 election?’ Will Oremus at The Atlantic (gift link): “The world’s most popular AI tool dodged a consequential question.”

■ A growing number of Chicago tech companies are adding “AI” to their names.

Shocking charges? With electricity rates skyrocketing nationwide, Consumer Reports invites you to upload your bill for advice on how to save money.

■ It’s offering an online briefing next month about the fight for affordable energy.

Wisconsin news. The Brewers have won their first World Series …

■ … while, as columnist Bill Kristol notes, “playing in the league’s smallest media market, and with baseball’s 19th-biggest payroll.”

■ The Trib’s Chris Borrelli (gift link): An Elkhorn werewolf legend refuses to die.

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Thanks. Harry Politis and Mike Braden made this edition better.