Everybody is busy and Nicole Rundall Royal is no exception, but the vote must go on. Nicole took a minute to talk to us outside the Rockford Board of Elections after she voted early. She told us the process was very simple.
"I just went in and gave them my name and they handed me a ballot and I went and voted. It took me maybe five minutes."
Five minutes means different things to different people. Nicole is the mother of four young children, including twins and a baby, and works full time as a school social worker for Rockford Public School District 205. For her, five minutes is tough to come by, but she still makes time to vote.
"Sometimes it's hard to carve out time in my life to do extras but it's something that's important enough to me that I felt the need to make the time to do it."
Rockford Alderman John Beck (R) has served on City Council for seventeen years and is an advocate for going to the polls. He also is disabled and has used a wheelchair since he was a teenager. Even with this challenge, he says disability is no excuse to not vote.
Rockford and Chicago are organizing separate "March to the Polls" to encourage people to register and vote. In Rockford, on Saturday October 13, the public is invited to rally in the parking lot at Rockford City Hall (425 E. State Street) and march to the Rockford Board of Elections at 301 S. 6th Street. The event ends at 3:00 p.m..