Early voting begins on Monday, March 23, at the Evanston Civic Center for the April 7 election for school board positions in Evanston.
Eight candidates are seeking a total of six seats — three on the District 65 school board and three on the Evanston Township High School board.
If you haven’t decided who to vote for yet, Evanston Now’s Election 2015 section has profiles of all the candidates in those races including video interviews with those who agreed to be interviewed, along with stories from the candidate forums and video replays of those events.
Voters will also get to choose two candidates from among the five running for the Oakton Community College board including incumbents Theresa Bashiri-Remetio and William Stafford and challengers Christopher Evdoxiadis, Constantine Ress and Benjamin Salzberg.
And for those living in the Ridgville Park District there’s a contested race between incumbent Patrick McCourt and challenger Socorro Clarke for one seat on that board.
“While these local elections do not garner as much attention or turnout as even-year elections, the issues that officials who are elected on April 7 will face directly impact voters’ lives,” Cook County Clerk David Orr says. “If you want to have a say in how your community is governed or how local schools, parks, and libraries are run, the first step is to vote.”
Early voting will continue through April 4. In addition to the Evanston Civic Center there are 41 other early voting sites in suburban Cook County and early ballots can also be cast at the county clerk’s downtown Chicago office at 69 W. Washington St.
All early voting sites are open Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. except for the five suburban courthouses, which are open weekdays, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Seven sites, including the Evanston Civic Center, are open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 29.
Voting by mail is also available to voters who would prefer to vote from home. No excuse is necessary to vote by mail, and the process is easier than ever, now that voters can apply online for a mail ballot, at cookcountyclerk.com/votebymail. Voters may apply until April 2 to vote by mail in the April 7 election.
Voters can also check their registration status, view a sample ballot, find the location of their polling place online.
Low election turnout expected ?
For over 25 years my Ward and two precincts have voted at the Bahai building Asbury and Central [maybe once at the Fire Station by the canal]. For this election we have to go to Haven School at Greenbay and Lincoln. Even if the Bahai building is no longer available the Fire Station or Chandler [some precincts vote there] would make more sense. I have to wonder if such low turnout is expected that they have to bunch the voting places. This one WILL drastically reduce the number of voters in the Ward.