Cook County Clerk, Chicago Bears Partner to Bring Early Voting to Suburban High Schools (Cook County, IL) – The Cook County Clerk’s Office is launching a first-of-its-kind initiative that will bring official early voting sites into suburban high schools, aiming to expand civic participation among young voters ahead of the March 17 gubernatorial primary election.
The program, developed in partnership with the Chicago Bears, will place early voting locations in more than 20 high schools across Cook County at the start of the early voting period. Dubbed the “Defenders of DA’mocracy” program, the initiative trains students to serve as official Election Judges and allows their classmates to vote in a real election setting on campus.
The Clerk’s Office formally announced the program Tuesday during a student Election Judge training at Oak Forest High School. Cook County Deputy Clerk of Elections Edmund Michalowski and Chicago Bears Senior Vice President of Fan and Guest Experience and Stadium Operations Lee Twarling addressed students and educators during the event.
According to the Clerk’s Office, students from 24 Cook County high schools are being trained this week to operate the on-campus early voting sites. Once early voting begins, the student judges will staff the polling places at their schools, providing hands-on experience with the election process while making voting more accessible to eligible student voters.
Officials said the initiative is designed to encourage civic engagement at an early age by familiarizing students with how elections work and reducing barriers to participation.
As part of the partnership, the Chicago Bears are serving as a Community Civic Engagement Supporter. The team is providing Bears-branded items to student participants and sharing a video message from a Bears player encouraging students to take part in the democratic process.
The Clerk’s Office said the high school voting sites will open alongside other early voting locations countywide, marking the first time Cook County has operated a coordinated early voting program centered on high school campuses.
Cook County Clerk, Chicago Bears Partner to Bring Early Voting to Suburban High Schools
