19 Comments - 47th Ward - Monday, Nov 5, 18 @ 1:32 pm: Here’s what I don’t get about early voting. Look at that line. If you vote on election day, after 9:00am and before 5:00pm, you might be the only voter in your precinct on election day. Early voting may be more convenient for those who can’t miss work, but nowadays almost all employers are required to give time off to vote. Why wait in line for the privilege of voting early? I don’t get it. That Welles Park location has to have the highest early vote in the city, with the possible exception of downtown. Every election the crowds are huge. - Maestro - Monday, Nov 5, 18 @ 1:34 pm: NPR’s morning edition had a story about this group about one month ago. Nice to see they are helping get peop0le out. - @misterjayem - Monday, Nov 5, 18 @ 1:36 pm: “nowadays almost all employers are required to give time off to vote. Why wait in line for the privilege of voting early?” Because commuting to and from work twice on Election Day is less appealing than waiting in that line? – MrJM - Domer 84 - Monday, Nov 5, 18 @ 1:36 pm: A feel good election story. These are few and far between. Thanks for sharing. - 47th Ward - Monday, Nov 5, 18 @ 1:41 pm: ===Because commuting to and from work twice on Election Day is less appealing than waiting in that line?=== I get that early voting is more convenient for some, and my bias is that I enjoy voting on election day instead. But what does commuting to/from work twice mean? Tip: go to work later, after voting, or leave work early to go to vote. Problem of double commuting solved. - DuPage Saint - Monday, Nov 5, 18 @ 1:41 pm: If certain polling places are notorious for long lines, why are there more voting booths and machines? Seems to me this is discouraging voting and has nothing to do with requiring IDs or address checks - ChicagoVinny - Monday, Nov 5, 18 @ 1:43 pm: My personal pizza-to-the-polls operation is voting by mail and ordering a pizza. But I like what they are doing. - Name/Nickname/Anon - Monday, Nov 5, 18 @ 1:55 pm: Trying to understand the law. The Aquarium cannot give free admission for people that voted. But this group is allowed to give away pizza to people waiting in line to vote? Is the distinction simply that they haven’t voted yet? - Anonimity - Monday, Nov 5, 18 @ 1:59 pm: Rich: ur not a Chicago native, are you? No one born and raised in Chicago calls a pizza a “pie”. The only word more cringeworthy are those that call is “za”. - yinn - Monday, Nov 5, 18 @ 2:16 pm: ==Why wait in line for the privilege of voting early?== You don’t generally see lines like this for early voting. This year is unusual not only for the numbers of early voters, but also for the numbers of grace period voters, who are registering as well as voting during the same trip. Takes much more time. In my college-setting polling place, we’re also seeing more people bring friends with them when they come in to register, especially during the noon hour. - JoanP - Monday, Nov 5, 18 @ 2:48 pm: Thin crust or deep-dish? - Cheryl44 - Monday, Nov 5, 18 @ 2:59 pm: Trivia–that’s the park where Abe Saperstein came up with the idea for the Harlem Globetrotters. - Lt Guv - Monday, Nov 5, 18 @ 3:03 pm: Anonimity, Rich grew up in Iroquois county. - 47th Ward - Monday, Nov 5, 18 @ 3:08 pm: ===You don’t generally see lines like this for early voting.=== This location at Welles Park has had lines at almost every election since Early Voting was allowed. The closer it gets to the election, the longer the line. This is a very popular location, even without pizza. - Joe Bidenopolous - Monday, Nov 5, 18 @ 3:42 pm: ===This location at Welles Park has had lines at almost every election since Early Voting was allowed. The closer it gets to the election, the longer the line. This is a very popular location, even without pizza.=== That’s a fact, for sure. But if you go during the day on the first week it’s open, you can generally get in and out in less than 10 minutes. I did. - Joe Bidenopolous - Monday, Nov 5, 18 @ 3:45 pm: adding…unless you were planning to vote on E-Day and had a last minute schedule change, I fail to understand waiting until the last moment to “early” vote. - Joe Bidenopolous - Monday, Nov 5, 18 @ 3:48 pm: adding more…one of the reasons this spot is so popular is that you can be from anywhere in the city to vote at any early voting polling place. And this location happens to be more convenient for a few of the adjacent wards, depending on where you live in them. - 47thWard Dame - Monday, Nov 5, 18 @ 4:28 pm: I was there at Welles Park when the pizza arrived! It definitely helped lift peoples’ spirits - Just a Citizen - Monday, Nov 5, 18 @ 5:09 pm: What a great idea!!! Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.