Poll Vault: Will you vote early?

Early voting in Illinois started Monday.

If you want to avoid your polling place on Election Day, you have until Nov. 3 to cast your ballot ahead of time. In suburban Cook County alone, there are 44 sites for early voting. (Click on the county name for early voting information in DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will counties.)

As Daily Herald staff writer Eric Peterson reported Monday, 13,585 Cook County residents cast a ballot on the first day of early voting, many of them enduring waits of 45 minutes or longer in line.

In the 15 years I’ve lived in the Chicago area, I’ve never had to wait more than five minutes at my polling place, so I don’t understand the need for early voting. But, clearly, thousands find it appealing.

Are you going to vote early or absentee in this election? Or are you a traditionalist who’ll cast your ballot on Nov. 6?