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Election Day in Chicago: polls close at 7 p.m. Where to find results tonight, and what's on the ballot that touches City Hall

Some polling places opened late, but the Board says no one was turned away. Results come in tonight, though mail ballots can arrive for two more weeks. Chicago elects its whole school board for the first time.

By Chicago PoliticsUpdated

Chicago is voting today. Polls opened at 6 a.m. and close at 7 p.m., and anyone in line at 7 p.m. can still vote, CBS Chicago reported. We won't predict any results; this is where to find them and what they cover.

Why it matters: today's ballot elects the governor, a U.S. senator, members of Congress and the legislature, and county officials. For the first time, it also elects every member of the Chicago Board of Education, including its president, and it asks advisory questions the City Council placed there.

Voting today

Some polling places opened late. Some Chicago sites were slow to open Tuesday morning, CBS reported. The Board of Election Commissioners said no voters had been turned away and no one had been unable to vote. CBS said it was unclear how widespread the delays were.

You can still register. Illinois allows registration in person through Election Day, with two forms of ID, at least one showing your current address, CBS reported. Find your polling place and sample ballot with the Board's lookup.

Mail ballots postmarked by today can be received and counted for up to 14 days after the election, the Cook County Clerk's office told CBS. If you're worried about a postmark, you can vote in person instead; our how-to-vote guide has the details.

Turnout before today. As of Monday night, 211,657 Chicagoans had voted early in person and 109,215 mail ballots had come back, out of 1,565,133 active registered voters, the Board reported, according to CBS.

Where to find results tonight

Election night numbers are unofficial. Because mail ballots can still arrive, close races may not be settled tonight.

What's on the ballot that touches City Hall

School board. Every voter picks a board president and the member for their district: 20 district seats plus the president, Chalkbeat reported. Three candidates are running for president: Jessica Biggs, Hilario Dominguez and Victor Henderson. The president, who now votes only to break ties, gets a full vote starting in January, Chalkbeat reported. The Council doesn't vote on the schools' budget, but it does vote on City money for school buildings; our explainer.

Six citywide questions, all advisory. Three came from the Council: restarting gunshot detection, building a permanent festival site and seeking federal money for costs of last year's immigration enforcement. One came from the Cook County Board and two from the Board of Education, NBC Chicago reported. All six, plus the ward questions.

Three mayoral candidates are on today's ballot for other offices. What that means for February.

What our records add

How the Council's questions got there. The federal compensation question, from Mayor Brandon Johnson, was adopted 46 to 1 on July 22 (R2026-0026834). Under state law, the first three advisory questions the Council adopts for an election go on the ballot. How the three were chosen.

One ward question came from the Council. The 26th Ward's question on limiting new short-term rentals was placed by a resolution from Ald. Jessie Fuentes that passed 49 to 0 (SR2025-0021045).

Answers don't bind anyone. The Council isn't required to act on any advisory result. Once the Board posts results, we will report each question by ward and compare them with how that ward's alderperson voted on related legislation.

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