Today is primary election day. We are used to doing this in March, but a bill passed in Illinois last year moved the primary to June to accomodate the delayed Census data. There aren’t many contested races on your ballot this year, especially if you select a Democratic ballot. However, please don’t let that keep you from showing up. You can find out who is running and see candidate questionnaires on the Vote Champagn website.
If you are voting by mail, you need to have your ballot postmarked by today, or put it in a drop box by 7 p.m. (the Champaign County Clerk recommends the latter). Here are all of those locations:
Brookens Administration Building, in the circle drive
Champaign Public Library
Champaign Public Library-Douglass Branch
Champaign-Urbana Public Health District
Illini Union, southeast corner inside the Union, accessible by foot only
Mahomet Public Library
Parkland at Mattis
Rantoul Village Hall
Savoy Recreation Center
Sholem Pool
St. Joe Township-Swearingen Memorial Library
Urbana Free Library
All polling places are open today from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Fun fact: No matter what precinct you are in, you can vote at any polling place. You can find a list of the locations on the Champaign County Clerk website. If you want to vote at your designated polling place, you can look that up in the voter portal. That is also where you can find your sample ballot and check your voter registration.
Not registered yet? You can still do that today! You can register and then vote immediately. Be sure to bring two pieces of identification. If you have a teen in your house that will be 18 on or before November 8, 2022, they can vote in this primary election.
Top photo by Jessica Hammie.
