Polling Places Prohibited At Northwestern's Evanston Campus

EVANSTON, IL — Northwestern University officials waited until after more than 2,500 local registered voters had been notified that their polling place would be on the university's Evanston campus before reversing course and notifying election officials the institution would not permit a voting site on its property.

In late September, the Cook County Clerk's Office sent out cards notifying voters of their assigned polling place. While ballots can be cast at any early voting site in the county, voters can only vote in-person on Election Day in the precinct where they are registered.

The notices told residents of three Evanston precincts that their polling place would be Alice Millar Chapel and Parkes Hall at 1870 Sheridan Road.

According to Cook County Deputy Clerk of Elections Ed Michalowski, representatives of the university notified the county that the longstanding polling place would not be permitted for the Nov. 3 general election.

"There's going to be residents out there that have to go a significant distance now because of the late point for us to attempt to get these precincts located," he said.

A Friday afternoon email from the university said the decision was made by "Northwestern administration and risk management," Michalowski explained.

"It was very disappointing that Northwestern would not have given any consideration in advance of the dates that we needed to know by," he told Evanston Patch. "People want to vote. This is a very important election. We are just disappointed that Northwestern didn't think in advance to notify us that they were going to cancel."

A university spokesperson was provided with a series of written question about the matter Wednesday evening but declined to respond by Thursday afternoon.

The move marks a policy reversal for the university from the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.

Ahead of the March 17 primary elections, when many senior living facilities canceled plans to serve as polling places due to the spread of the coronavirus, the on-campus polling site hosted voters from an additional precinct.

Since then, Northwestern has restricted freshmen and sophomores from its campus for the fall quarter due to COVID-19. More than 50 students, eight staffers and three faculty members have tested positive for the virus since students returned to campus, with 10 new positives in the first week of October, according to the university's website.

Northwestern was the only multi-billion-dollar private nonprofit corporation that planned to host a suburban Cook County polling place on Election Day. The others include local public elementary and middle schools, community centers and houses of worship.

In 2016, the Northwestern Center for Civic Engagement established the nonpartisan NU Votes registration initiative to encourage more electoral participation among young people. No comment was immediately available from the center about the university's rejection of an on-campus polling place.

Michalowski, the deputy clerk tasked with organizing elections in suburban Cook County, said the office will implement its protocol for notifying voters of last-minute polling place changes.

"An institution of higher learning that prides itself in its civic responsibility and also lends advice as to how elections should be appropriately run and managed," he said, "for them not to follow through with even the simplest thing of being a polling place for their residents and the community is disturbing."