President Barack Obama promoted early voting in his home state of Illinois on Monday by casting his ballot near his home in Chicago.
“I’m so glad I can early vote here,” Obama said after emerging from the voting booth.
He did not tell media gathered at the polling place who he voted for, but Obama told a crowd Sunday he would be supporting Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin and Gov. Pat Quinn.
Democrats across the country are urging supporters to take advantage of early voting ahead of the midterm elections. Earlier voters have traditionally favored Democrats and the extended timeframe to cast ballots can help turn out groups who skip voting in non-presidential years.
“This is the most important office in a Democracy, is the office of citizen,” Obama said. “So exercising our franchise is where all of us are the same and everybody has that right.”
IN-DEPTH
-- Andrew Rafferty