• Illinois elects more public officials than any other state.votar image by caironbohemio from Fotolia.com
  
  Illinois elects more than 40,000 public officials and has more than 6,000 units of local government. That's more than any other state, according to the Illinois State Board of Elections whose job it is to insure the election process is the same statewide and that voters follow the same rules no matter where they're voting.
  
  

Open Hours

• Polls must be open between 6:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. Once the polls are open they can't close or recess until all forms are completed and the ballots have been delivered to the counting center.
  
  

Judges

• Judges must remain in the polling place while polls are open. If absolutely necessary, one judge at a time may leave the polling place for a very brief time. Signed time sheets must show when they're absent. After the polls close, all five judges must stay until paperwork is completed and signed, and election materials are packaged up for return to the election authority. Judges are the only ones permitted to handle the election materials, supplies and ballot sheets.
  
  

Authority

• Everyone who's in the polling place or within the campaign-free zone must obey lawful orders from the judges who have the authority to evict anyone causing a disturbance. Serious problems should be reported to the election authority.
  
  

People

• Only authorized people are allowed in the polling place. This includes the election judges, qualified pollwatchers, voters, representatives of the election authority, the State Board of Elections, the Attorney General's Office, the State's Attorney's Office and local, state and federal law enforcement officials.
  
  

No Campaigning

• No one is allowed to campaign within 100 horizontal feet of a polling room. No one is allowed to wear a campaign button, display political literature or take part in a political discussion within this space. No advertising about a candidate or a proposition being voted on may be displayed. Two or more cones, small U.S. national flags or other markers must be placed at a distance of 100 horizontal feet from each entrance to the polling room to indicate the campaign-free zone.
  
  

Voting Time

• Voters may remain in a booth for 10 minutes if no other voters are waiting to vote. If other voters are waiting, they may only remain in a booth for five minutes.
  
  

Challenged Voter

• If an election judge, pollwatcher or a legal voter doesn't think someone is qualified to vote, he must challenge the voter, stating the reason why he believes the person isn't qualified. Acceptable reasons include the fact that the voter doesn't reside at the address listed, he's already voted, there's no record that he's registered or the person trying to vote isn't the same person who's registered. If a voter is challenged, the board of judges must decide whether to uphold or overrule the challenge. If the judges overrule the challenge, the voter votes as though there hadn't been a challenge. If the judges uphold the challenge, the voter must be told that he may vote a provisional ballot.