The 2026 General Primary Election is March 17, 2026. This election determines party nominees for federal, state, county, and local offices on the ballot in Chicago. The Board provides official forms and tools for registering to vote, updating your registration, and applying for vote by mail. Information on Vote By Mail, Early Voting, the Permanent Vote By Mail Roster, and other dates and services can be found below.

Only 1 in 5 Chicagoans registered to vote cast a ballot in the last midterm election in 2022 (click here to read more about the low turnout). Please vote to make your voice heard.

Vote By Mail Information
Register to Vote By Mail by clicking here. 

NOTE: The Board will begin mailing ballots to those on the Permanent Vote By Mail Roster and vote by mail applicants in early February 2026. Applications to receive a mail ballot must be received by the Board no later than March 12, 2026. Mail ballots must be postmarked by March 17, 2026, to count.

Early Voting Information (Begins in all 50 Wards on March 2, 2026)
You may find a list of early voting dates and locations by clicking here.
March 2 through March 17 hours of operation: 
Weekdays: 9:00 am to 6:00 pm
Saturday: 9:00 am to 5:00 pm
Sunday: 10:00 am to 4:00 pm
Election Day (March 17): 6:00 am to 7:00 pm

Voter Registration and Address Changes
To register to vote or update your address on your voter registration record, use the Illinois Voter Registration Application* available from the Board’s site by clicking here.

*Last Day to register using the online application is March 1, 2026. It reopens on March 19, 2026

The official downloadable form for registration or address updates is here.

Grace Period and Same-Day Registration
Illinois law allows voters to register or update their registration and vote during the grace period at early voting sites and at the Board office through Election Day if they missed the standard registration deadline. Check the official Chicago Board of Elections site for exact grace period details and locations by clicking here.

Election Day
The Primary Election is scheduled for March 17, 2026. Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. local time at your assigned precinct polling place. You may vote in person on Election Day if you have not voted early or by mail. For polling location lookup, click here. 

Polling Place Lookup
Find your polling place and voter information by clicking here.

Holiday Tree Recycling: Begins January 3-17. The Chicago Department of Streets and Sanitation, in partnership with the Chicago Park District, is hosting its annual Holiday Tree Recycling Program at 27 locations throughout the city.  Chicago residents are welcome to drop off their natural holiday trees inside the designated tree recycling corral at each location. Please remove all tinsel, lights, ornaments, tree stands, and plastic bags from your tree before placing it in the corral.

Click here to find a location near you.

This year, Chicago will host a live broadcast of “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve,” with a midnight countdown and free, public event along the Chicago River. Road closures will start on Monday, December 29, at 10:00 am on Franklin St from Lake St to Upper W Wacker Dr.

Then, on Wednesday, December 31, the Orleans St bridge and Upper Wacker from Lake St to Wells St will close at 10:00 am. Street closures will go into effect on the following bridges on Wednesday, December 31 at 11:30 pm:

• Dearborn St Bridge
• Clark St Bridge
• LaSalle St Bridge
• Wabash St Bridge
• Columbus Dr Bridge

This event is free and open to the public, with no ticket registration required. Event entrances located on Wacker Dr at the corner of Lake St and Wells St will open at 5 p.m. Performances from Chance the Rapper and other Chicago acts will take place throughout the night. To learn more information, you can view the event details here.

For a full list of road closures and the event schedule, please see below.

Serve as a Poll Worker for the March 17th, 2026 Primary
The Chicago Board of Elections is seeking poll workers for the Primary on March 17th, 2026, including bilingual election judges who speak Spanish, Chinese, Hindi, Polish, Korean, and Tagalog.

To learn more and apply, please visit the Board of Elections website.

Chicago residents are once again encouraged to create innovative snowplow names and submit them below by January 10, 2026. At the end of the contest, the Department of Streets and Sanitation will pick the top six names, and those names will represent one snowplow in each of the City’s six snow districts.

Click here to submit a name.

The  27th Ward Town Hall will take place on December 16th at 6 PM, hosted at Malcolm X College. This event will feature important discussions on Healthcare, Budget, and Traffic, topics that directly impact our residents and community partners.

Joining the meeting is an insightful group of speakers, including the Alderman, and:

• Cheron Massonburg, Chief Program Officer, Breakthrough (Healthcare)
• Morgan Elise Johnson, Co-Founder, The TRiiBE (Budget)
• Jung Yoon, Chief of Policy, Mayor’s Office (Budget)
• Craig Turner, Acting Commissioner, CDOT (Traffic)

All are welcome!

Location:  Rosecrance Behavioral Health at 320 W. Ohio Street – Suite 405E