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Voters Asked to Report Election Day Problems

Election officials want to remind voters to report any issues they run into at the polls.  173 teams of assistant attorneys general and investigators from the Illinois Attorney General’s office will be working throughout the state today to watch the general election to ensure that Illinoisans’ voting rightsare protected and that polling places are accessible.

Voters are urged to call the Attorney General’s hotline if they encounter illegal activity.

Chicago and northern Illinois voters can call 1-866-536-3496 (TTY 1-800-964-3013)

You can also contact your county election authority.

Voting Rights

  • Voters have the right to vote if they are in line when the polls close at 7 p.m. or at any other time between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Election Day (10 ILCS 5/17-1).
     
  • If a voter makes a mistake or “spoils” a paper ballot and the voter has not cast the ballot, the voter has the right to receive a replacement ballot (10 ILCS 5/17-11).
     
  • If a voter cannot read, has trouble understanding English, or has a disability, that voter has the right to request assistance from anyone other than his or her employer, an agent of his or her employer, or an officer or agent of his or her union (10 ILCS 5/17-14).
     
  • Voters have the right to take unpaid time from work to vote, but no more than two successive hours, as long as they have applied with their employer before Election Day. The employer may set the time of day (10 ILCS 5/17-15).
     
  • No one is allowed to try to influence a voter within 100 feet of the polling place (10 ILCS 5/17-29).

source: Illinois Attorney General website

Jenna Dooley has spent her professional career in public radio. She is a graduate of Northern Illinois University and the Public Affairs Reporting Program at the University of Illinois - Springfield. She returned to Northern Public Radio in DeKalb after several years hosting Morning Edition at WUIS-FM in Springfield. She is a former "Newsfinder of the Year" from the Illinois Associated Press and recipient of NIU's Donald R. Grubb Journalism Alumni Award. She is an active member of the Illinois News Broadcasters Association and an adjunct instructor at NIU.