The council chamber at Brookfield Village Hall, 8820 Brookfield Ave., will become one of more than 50 suburban Cook County early voting locations beginning Monday, Oct. 24 for the upcoming general election.
Early voting will continue seven days a week at the Brookfield site through Monday, Nov. 7. And once the early voting period is over, the council chamber will serve as the Election Day polling place on Nov. 8 at the village hall, replacing the downstairs location.
Anyone who lives in suburban Cook County can cast a ballot in Brookfield or any of the other suburban Cook County early voting locations. All early voting will be conducted on touch screens, which store all ballot styles from anywhere in Cook County.
The Brookfield early voting location will be open at the following times:
Monday, Oct. 24 – Saturday, Oct. 29, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 30, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Monday, Oct. 31 – Friday, Nov. 4, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 5, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 6, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Monday, Nov. 7, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Voters don’t need to provide a reason or an excuse for voting early and while a government-issued photo ID is not required to vote early, it can help clear up any questions about a voter’s registration, address or signature. The polling place will have an ID reader available to election officials.
If you can’t wait until Oct. 24 to cast your ballot, early voting began Sept. 29 at the Cook County Clerk’s main office, 69 W. Washington (pedway and fifth floor) in downtown Chicago.
In addition, citizens can register to vote during grace period registration and voting at all early voting locations. Anyone wishing to do so must bring two pieces of identification, at least one of which has the voter’s current address.
For a list of accepted IDs, visit the Cook County Clerk’s website at www.cookctyclerk.com and click on the “Elections-Suburban Cook County” tab.
Last week, a U.S. District Court judge blocked Election Day registration in Illinois, ending, for now, a plan to allow citizens to register and vote on Nov. 8. According to a spokeswoman from the Cook County Clerk’s Office, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has appealed the judge’s ruling.
If the appeal fails, the county still ought to be able to allow citizens to register and vote on the same day during the early voting period, according to Gail Weisberg, manager of voter services for the Cook County Clerk, though there seems to be some question about that.
Cook County election officials will begin setting up the voting equipment in the council chamber on Friday, Oct. 21. Because the room will be serving as an early voting site, the Brookfield Village Board meeting scheduled for Monday, Oct. 24 at 6:30 p.m. will be held in the recreation hall in the lower level of the building.
