WICKER PARK — Voters will make their picks for who should be their community's ear to the City Council in Tuesday's municipal election — and for those folks who could have been turned away this morning in a Wicker Park field house which was short one judge — the polls will stay open until 8 p.m.
The Wicker Park, Bucktown and West Town neighborhoods span portions of three wards: 1st, 2nd and 32nd.
Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., with the exception of the field house at 1425 N. Damen Ave., which is for voters in Precinct 25, who are part of the "New 2" or 2nd Ward.
A spokeswoman for the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners said that the poll in the field house was not able to open because there was only one judge there and a second was needed.
One voter who was unable to vote said the following in a morning tweet: "No one has voted yet in wicker park at 8:40. They are on phone to find out how to swear in judge."
Teresa Clark, an election judge for Precinct 25, said it had been "a rough morning."
As for the turnout, Clark said it was the lowest she'd seen in 30 years of working as an election judge.
By 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Clark said that just 64 out of a 650 voters had turned out in the new 2nd Ward precinct.
Teresa Clark:
In a 1st Ward Precinct, 11, just 108 out of 770 registered voters had cast their votes.
"We're hoping for a rush hour rush," said Emma Farley, an election judge.
"It's unfortunate but that's the state of our system," said Marilyn Weinberg, a Wicker Park resident of 38 years who declined to share who she voted for in the ward and mayoral races.
Weinberg added, "It's not after working hours yet."
In 1st Ward Precinct 8, 129 of 703 registered voters had cast their votes at the polls.
Dave Savage, an election judge, said, "The voters have been nice, we are here to serve."
Lyndale Hill, a Wicker Park resident of 47 years, described the state of the poll at Sabin School, where he'd voted, as "empty, empty, empty."
Hill, who has worked as Ald. Joe Moreno's (1st) landscaper and handyman for the past eight years, said he put in a vote for Moreno.
"He is still the same guy as he was eight years ago. He does what he can for the neighborhood," Hill said.
Hill:
Find your nearest spot to vote here.
Problems with voting can be reported to the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners online at chicagoelections.com or by calling 312-269-7870.
If no candidate gets 50 percent of the vote on Feb. 24, the top two vote-getters will square off in a runoff on April 7.
Evgeniya Stasev, a Wicker Park senior who maintains a garden in the summer, was near a polling site on Tuesday but declined to comment on whether she voted.
1st Ward
Three candidates are running against 1st Ward Ald. Joe Moreno, who was appointed to his post in 2010 by former Mayor Richard M. Daley and then elected in 2011.
Shaped like a seahorse, the ward runs through parts of Wicker Park, Logan Square, Ukrainian Village, East Village and Humboldt Park.
Moreno's opponents are Ronda Locke, who previously worked for him; Anne Shaw, an attorney who lost to Moreno in a 2012 Ward Committeeman race; and Andrew Hamilton, a personal injury lawyer.
Some issues of contention among the four candidates have been developer donations and whether to accept the money, transit-oriented developments and public safety.
(l. to r.) Locke, Moreno, Hamilton, Shaw in their second face-off in late January after a heated forum earlier in the month.
2nd Ward
The "New 2" as it's been called, is a sprawling ward with its boundaries snaking through portions of the lakefront, the Gold Coast, Old Town, Lincoln Park, Ukrainian Village, Wicker Park and Bucktown.
The gerrymandered map, which the candidates have joked about along the way, has brought out a diverse field of six candidates.
There is no incumbent in the race because Ald. Bob Fioretti (2nd), who will no longer live in the ward under the remap, is running for mayor.
The candidates are Bita Buenrostro, Brian Hopkins, Steve Niketopoulos, Alyx Pattison, Stacey Pfingsten and Cornell Wilson.
Buenrostro, the wife of a Chicago police officer, is an Iranian immigrant and executive with a Chicago-based restaurant corporation.
Hopkins is a two-term president of the Streeterville Organization of Active Residents and former chief of staff to Cook County Finance Chairman John Daley.
Niketopoulos is a television producer for CAN-TV and has built and moderated several online neighborhood community groups.
Pattison is an attorney, member of the Jose de Diego Local School Council and volunteer on the Cook County Commission on Women's Rights.
Pfingsten previously served as a political coordinator and fundraiser for Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd) and as a staffer under Fioretti.
Wilson is a Marine and attorney who supports the idea of participatory budgeting.
(from l.) Wilson, Pattison, Pfingsten, Niketopoulos, Buenrosto and Hopkins during a January forum at Near North Montessori School, 1434 W. Division St.
32nd Ward
One candidate is running against 32nd Ward Scott Waguespack, who was first elected in April 2007 during a runoff against former alderman Ted Matlak.
The 32nd Ward includes parts of Bucktown, Logan Square, Lincoln Park and Roscoe Village.
Waguespack, a founding member of the city's Progressive Reform Caucus, was one of five aldermen to vote against the city's parking meter deal.
Elise Doody-Jones, a Logan Square resident and former political director of Moreno's re-election campaign, does not live in the 32nd Ward but has said she will relocate there if elected.
Doody-Jones, Waguespack:
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