PUSH volunteers keep watchful eyes on polling places and voters on election day

By Nia Prater and Yu-Ning Aileen Chuang As C. Betty Magness, Illinois political director for the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, worked the election hotline on the third floor of the organization’s headquarters Tuesday, a call came in on her cell phone that took her by surprise. It was her son, who said he had been turned away […]

Chance the Rapper uses Twitter to rally fans for massive parade to the polls

By Nia Prater “If you’re planning on voting tomorrow, say ‘hell yeah!’” exhorted local rapper DJ OddCouple, hyping up the crowd in front of the Petrillo Music Shell in Grant Park Monday. A resounding “Hell yeah!” came back in response. It was dusk, and thousands jammed into the park for a get-out-the-vote rally and free […]

Iran nuclear deal raises heat at first Dold/Schneider debate

By Sarah Haas The Iran nuclear deal formed the narrative line of a contentious debate Sunday night between U.S. Rep. Bob Dold, R-Kenilworth and Democrat Brad Schneider, who is trying for the second time to unseat Dold in the 10th Congressional district. The candidates squared off before a packed house in the auditorium of Lake […]

Will local millennials defy traditional voter ‘drop-off’ patterns?

By Sarah Haas and Nia Prater The voting phenomenon widely known as the millennial “drop-off” may not hold to be entirely true for young people in the Chicago area on Nov. 8. A combination of factors, including registration drives on college campuses and the contentiousness of some hotly contested national and local races, seem to […]