Polls open at 6 a.m. Tuesday

Cook County Clerk David Orr says voters should double-check their polling place location before heading out to vote in the presidential primary election Tuesday.

Cook County Clerk David Orr says voters should double-check their polling place location before heading out to vote in the presidential primary election Tuesday.

“With redistricting came some polling place changes, so make sure you review your new voter registration card or check your precinct information online,” Orr said.

Orr noted that voters may see unfamiliar candidates and districts on the ballot, also due to redistricting.

All 1.4 million suburban Cook County voters were mailed a new voter registration card last month. While voters are not required to show the card before voting, it lists a lot of useful information including the voter’s precinct, polling location and voting districts.

The online site also provides a sample ballot showing the candidates and issues in each voting district..

On election day polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. and are generally least crowded between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Anyone in line when polls close at 7 p.m. will be allowed to vote, and voters will have a choice of voting on a touch screen or with a paper ballot.

Democratic voters in Evanston will have nothing to decide at the top of the ballot — with Barack Obama the only candidate for the party’s presidential nomination — but they’ll have a wide variety of judicial candidates to choose from at the bottom of the ballot.

A listing of bar association recommendations in contested judicial contests is available here.

Republican voters will have six candidates to choose from in the presidential race — in ballot order, Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich, Chares “Buddy” Roemer and Rick Santorum. Only Gingrich, Paul, Romney and Santorum are still active candidates. But the Republican voters will have no decisions to make about judicial candidates — with either no candidate or no competition in any of the judicial contests.

All voters, regardless of party, will have three local referendum issues to decide. Here’s the ballot language for those issues:

City of Evanston – Electricity Referendum

Shall the City of Evanston have the authority to arrange for the supply of electricity for its residential and small commercial retail customers who have not opted out of such program? 

Evanston Township – Dissolve Township Referendum

Should the Evanston Township Board continue to pursue the issue of dissolving Evanston Township? 

Evanston/Skokie School District 65 – Issue Bonds Referendum

Shall the Board of Education of Evanston/Skokie Community Consolidated School District Number 65, Cook County, Illinois, build and equip a school building, build and equip additions to existing school buildings, and improve the sites of and alter, repair and equip existing school buildings and issue bonds of said School District to the amount of $48,200,000 for the purpose of paying the costs thereof?