Richard Rolark wanted to avoid the lines, the hassle and the possibility of bad weather on Election Day in two weeks.
“It’s a good convenience for older people, especially here on the South Side. And on Nov. 3, you don’t know what the weather is going to be like. This is Chicago, after all. We might have eight inches of snow and 40 degrees below zero,” Rolark, 76. said Monday morning outside the 4th Ward voting site at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Center.
Expanded in-person early voting for the Nov. 3 general election started Monday in all 50 Chicago wards and at three Chicago-area universities.
In the city, voters are choosing the president and members of the Chicago Board of Education. Statewide, voters are casting ballots in races for the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives, Illinois governor and lieutenant governor,, as well as attorney general, other statewide offices and their local members of the Illinois General Assembly.
Rolark, a Vietnam veteran living in Bronzeville, believes people should not tak thefor granted.
“Come out and vote. That’s a very, very important thing to do. I used to march with Dr. King to get the right to vote,” Rolark said.
Rolark said in 1965, at 15 years old, he was in marching Selma, Alabama with other voting rights activists when they were attacked by state troopers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
“I never made it across the bridge. I was really young. They put us on the bus when they started throwing rocks. I got hit with a rock. That was an experience I’ll never forget,” Rolark said. “I tell people to vote and they say ‘it’s not going to do anything for me. I don’t need to vote.’ I got hit in the back of the head with a rock to try to get the right to vote. Don’t tell me not to vote. It’s your right.”
Just up the block at the Evening Star Missionary Baptist Church, Gov. JB Pritzker and his running mate for lieutenant governor, Christian Mitchell, joined faith leaders to encourage early voting.
At Union Park in the 27th Ward on the Near West Side, Graham Hickey said he got his vote out of the way to avoid the crowds.
“It’s just easier. I knew about early voting from listening to WBEZ this morning so I came out to vote,” the 58-year-old said. “I think Chicago is the greatest city in the world. I’ve lived here most of my life, and I want to see a city that has a thriving youth culture, a thriving arts culture, and thriving civic engagement.”
Chicago voters may vote at any early voting location, regardless of where they live in the city. Voter registration is also available at all 50 locations as well as on Election Day.
Early voting sites in all 50 wards are now open through Nov. 2 during these hours: Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sundays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Downtown early voting sites already were open and will stay open during the same hours as ward sites through this coming Sunday, then will stay open until 7 p.m. from Oct. 26 through Nov. 2. Those sites are the Chicago Board of Elections SuperSite, 137 S. State St. and the Chicago Board of Elections office, 69 W. Washington St.
Michael Puente is a reporter and anchor at WBEZ. Reach him at mpuente@wbez.org.
