Midterm Election 2018: Everything You Need To Know For Palatine

PALATINE, IL — Election Day is Tuesday. Before you head to the polls, here's what you need to know about the upcoming midterm election if you're a Cook County voter.

How Late Can I Vote? The polls are open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 6.

Not sure where you vote? You can find your polling place in Cook County at the clerk's website.

When are Election Results Official? All vote totals are unofficial and winners are projected until the clerk's office has tabulated all results, including provisional ballots from Election Day and vote by mail ballots postmarked by Election Day. Those votes will be posted 14 days after Election Day, and 21 calendar days after an election, the results are canvassed and become official.

Final, official vote totals will be on the clerk website for Cook County.

Need a ride to the polls? Uber and Lyft are offering Election Day deals and potential freebies. Lyft said it's offering 50 percent off rides across the country Tuesday. Visit BuzzFeed to access a Lyft promo code. Uber is working with #VoteTogether and Democracy Works to provide free rides in areas where transportation to the polls is hard to come by as part of its "Uber Drives the Vote" promotion.

Uber also is offering $10 off a single ride to the polls on Election Day for the Uber Express Pool, which could mean a free ride depending on how far you have to go. To get the deal, riders must have the most updated version of the Uber app. Then enter the promotional code VOTE2018 in your app. (Tap Menu > Payment > Add Promo Code).

The Ballots

State Races

Governor/Lieutenant governor

• Bruce Rauner/Evelyn Sanguinetti (Republican)
• J.B. Pritzker/Juliana Stratton (Democrat)
• Grayson Kash Jackson/Sanjeev Mohip (Libertarian)
• William "Sam" McCann/Aaron Merreighn (Conservative)

More Patch coverage:

• Pritzker Campaign Releases Records Refuting Discrimination Suit
  
• JB Pritzker Spending Nearly Doubles Gov. Rauner In Home Stretch
  
• Illinois Governor Debate: Rauner, Pritzker Meet In Final Showdown

Attorney General

• Erika Harold (Republican)
• Kwame Raoul (Democrat)
• Bubba Harsy (Libertarian)

More Patch coverage:

• Illinois AG Candidate Once Said Harassment Leads To Promiscuity

Secretary of State

• Jason Helland (Republican)
• Jesse White (Democrat)
• Steve Dutner (Libertarian)

Comptroller

• Darlene Senger (Republican)
• Susana A. Mendoza (Democrat)
• Claire Ball (Libertarian)

Treasurer

• Jim Dodge (Republican)
• Michael Frerichs (Democrat)
• Michael Leheney (Libertarian)

Representative in Congress, 6th District

• Sean Casten (Democrat)
• Peter J. Roskam (Republican)

More Patch Coverage:

• Casten Defeats Mazeski, Will Take On Roskam In 6th District
• New Dem Poll Shows Casten Outpacing Roskam: Report

Representative in Congress, 7th District

• Craig Cameron (Republican)
• Danny K. Davis (Democrat)

Representative in Congress, 8th District

• Jitendra Diganvker (Republican)
• Raja Krishnamoorthi (Democrat)

Representative in Congress, 9th District

• Jan Schakowsky (Democrat)
• John Elleson (Republican)

Illinois State Senate

27th District

• Ann Gillespie (Democrat)
• Tom Rooney (Republican)

Illinois House of Representatives

53rd District

• Eddie Corrigan (Republican)
• Mark Walker (Democrat)

56th District

• Jillian Bernas (Republican)
• Michelle Mussman (Democrat)

Cook County Judges

Fifty-nine judges are up for retention, including ten candidates are seeking seats on benches for the first time in contested races. Cook County voters will decide on Nov. 6 whether to retain all 59 circuit court judges

• VoteForJudges.org offers non-partisan information on all the judicial candidates. The Chicago Appleseed Fund, the creator of the website, does not recommend or not recommend judges, but provides research-based evaluations from over a dozen bar associations.
• VoteForJudges will publish the judicial evaluation results from the bar associations as they become available, and the endorsements from the Chicago Tribune.
• The Chicago Bar Association provides a voter's smart guide of its judicial recommendations and non-recommendations, as well as a phone app to bring into the voting booth.

• Illinois Bar Association provides summaries and full judicial evaluations. This information is also shared on VoteForJudges.
• Chicago Council on Lawyers is a non-partisan, public interest bar group. The CCL's evaluations are available now on the Council's website and through VoteforJudges.org.
• IllinoisJudges.Net is maintained by the Illinois Civil Justice League.The ICJL is a coalition of interests in Illinois, including taxpayers, consumers, small businesses, lawyers, doctors, local governments, big businesses, not-for-profit organizations and individual citizens. The coalition fights what it believes to be abuses to the civil justice system. ICJL includes its own ratings, as well as drawing evaluations from bar associations and newspaper endorsements.
• Injustice Watch, a nonpartisan, nonprofit multimedia journalism organization that exposes institutional failures that obstruct justice in Cook County, has also compiled a 2018 judicial voting guide.

Voters are permitted to bring newspaper endorsements, printouts, sample ballots and smart phones to view judicial evaluations into the voting booth.

Referenda

Bond Issue, College District 512 (Harper Community College)

"Shall the Board of Trustees of William Rainey Harper Community College District No. 512, Counties of Cook, Kane, Lake and McHenry and State of Illinois, acquire real property, build and equip new buildings, build and equip additions to and alter, equip, repair and renovate existing buildings of the District and issue the bonds of said Community College to an amount not to exceed $180,000,000 for said purposes?"

Homeowners Exemptions, Palatine Township

"Should the State of Illinois increase the residential and senior homeowner exemptions to help reduce property taxes for the residents of Palatine Township?"

Reinstate the Beverage Tax, Elk Grove, Palatine and Schaumburg townships

"Should the Cook County Board of Commissioners reinstate the Cook County Sweetened Beverage Tax Ordinance (also known as the Soda Tax) to fill the 82 million dollar deficit in the County's 2019 operating budget?"

Cook County Firearms

"Should the State of Illinois strengthen penalties for the illegal trafficking of firearms and require all gun dealers to be certified by the State?"

Cook County Minimum Wage

"Shall the minimum wage in your municipality match the $13 per hour Cook County minimum wage law for adults over the age of 18 by July 1, 2020, and be indexed to the consumer price index after that?"

Cook County Earned Sick Time

"Shall your municipality match the Cook County earned sick time law which allows for workers to earn up to 40 hours (5 days) of sick time a year to take care of their own health or a family member's health?"

Go to the Cook County website for a full list of referenda on the Nov. 6 ballot.

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