60 Judges, 105 Passwords, and the Privilege of Voting

I turned 18 in 1994.

I honestly don’t remember if I voted that year. I don’t remember when I first voted, or when I started caring about voting. I suspect it happened gradually, somewhere between being 18 and realizing that the world was, in fact, considerably bigger than me.

When I was 18, my worldview was pretty narrow. I mostly noticed the things that directly affected me. As I’ve gotten older, I’d like to think my purview has expanded a bit. I’m beginning to understand what a privilege it is to have a voice in how our communities, our state, and our country are governed. I have a voice in bettering the lives of my children and maybe even my children’s children.

And then yesterday, I was looking at my mother’s sample ballot for the November election.

There are more than 60 judges running for retention.

Sixty.

How is my 75-year-old mother, whose primary source of news is the 5–6 p.m. hour on ABC (local and national), supposed to know anything about 60 judges? At some point, it stops being a ballot and starts looking suspiciously like a standardized test.

Ugh. Remember those? You had to fill in the whole circle, and if you made a mistake, you had to put in some serious effort erasing your pencil mark while hoping the computer wouldn’t decide that you had filled in two circles.

It got me thinking: Do we really deserve the privilege of voting if we don’t know anything about the people we’re voting for?

That question is a little more complicated than a yes-or-no answer.

Because yes, voting is a privilege. There are people locally and around the world who either cannot vote or do not have a meaningful choice when they do. That seems like something worth appreciating—and maybe worth putting a little effort into.

But I also understand that most of us are busy. We have jobs and families and laundry and approximately 105 passwords to remember. And they can’t be the name of your dog because apparently every password now needs capital letters, numbers, punctuation, and possibly a small blood sacrifice.

We are not all political junkies with the time or desire to research every single candidate on every single ballot.

So I decided to make it a little easier.

I’ve put together a document with nonpartisan voting information, including where you can register, what’s on your ballot, where you can vote, and information to help you learn more about the candidates.

Because I don’t think the goal is to become an expert on every race. (Although if you have strong opinions about 60 different judges, I would genuinely like to hear how you got there.)

The goal is simply to know a little more before we walk into the voting booth.

And that brings me to my second point: You may be wondering what voting has to do with a blog about midlife and medicine. Especially at a time when every other person seems to be clamoring to be “apolitical.”

Well…pretty much everything.

The cost of medications. Access to health insurance. Reproductive health. The ability to make decisions about what happens to our own bodies. Funding for public health. Medicare and Medicaid. The policies that determine how healthcare is delivered and who can access it.

A lot of what happens in medicine is influenced by politics.

Heck, whether the pharmacy has enough of your estrogen patches—or mine—is related to politics.

I wish that weren’t the case sometimes. It would certainly make my job—and this blog—simpler.

But I don’t make the rules.

So yes, midlife is political. Healthcare is political. And, unfortunately, sometimes figuring out how to vote is also a little political homework.

Even if there are 60 judges.

Especially if there are 60 judges.

And if nothing else, maybe we can all agree that someone needs to make a study guide.

Here is my attempt at helping. Please share this post far and wide to try to help other voters out there. Many of these details are specific to the Chicagoland area, but maybe this will help inspire others to make similar documents for their regions.

Voter Registration

Paper registration until October 6, 2026

Online voter registration until October 18, 2026

Register to vote online:

In-person registration at County Clerk offices and early voting sites: October 7–November 3

Cook County in-person registration sites (October 7–November 3):

Will County in-person registration sites (October 7–November 3):

DuPage County in-person registration sites (October 7–November 3):

Mail-In Ballots

College students, people who will be busy on Election Day, or anyone who prefers to vote by mail can request a mail-in ballot before October 29.

Mail-in ballots must be postmarked by Election Day.

Cook County

Request a mail-in ballot:

Mail your ballot or drop it off at one of the following locations:

Will County

Request a mail-in ballot:

Mail your ballot or drop it off at one of the following locations:

DuPage County

Request a mail-in ballot:

Mail your ballot or drop it off at one of the following locations:

Voting

Cook County

Your early voting polling places:

Your polling place on Election Day:

Sample ballots:

Will County

Your early voting polling places:

Your polling place on Election Day:

Sample ballots:

DuPage County

Your early voting polling places:

Your polling place on Election Day:

Sample ballots:

Additional Resources

Vote411: 

See some candidates’ responses to questions:

BallotReady: 

Find biographical information about candidates:

Illinois State Bar Association: 

Information about judicial elections:

Cook County judges: