Obama casts early vote in Chicago

October 08, 2016 11:09 am | Updated November 01, 2016 11:41 pm IST - Washington

Early voting allows a voter to exercise their right to vote several weeks ahead of the main date of the general elections.

U.S. President Barack Obama votes early at the Chicago Board of Elections in Chicago on Friday, October 7, 2016.

U.S. President Barack Obama votes early at the Chicago Board of Elections in Chicago on Friday, October 7, 2016.

U.S. President Barack Obama has cast his ballot for the November 8 general elections, which would elect his successor, by taking benefit of the provision of “early voting” in his home town of Chicago.

Early voting, which has gained popularity in the last few election cycle, allows a voter to exercise their right to vote several weeks ahead of the main date of the general elections.

Though it varies from State to State, in some cases it can go back to as many as 50 days.

However, he did not tell the press travelling with him, who did he vote for. In fact, he pretended to hide his voting in a basement of the Chicago Board of Elections.

Mr. Obama has been campaigning for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton to succeed him in the Oval Office.

After locating his machine and beginning to vote, Mr. Obama looked up at the pool and cracked, “they can’t see who I’m voting for can they?” and feigned an effort to shield the screen.

Asked who he voted for, the US President looked up and smirked.

“Voted early today. Make sure you vote too,” Mr. Obama said in a tweet. Mr. Obama, 55, was a US senator from Illinois prior to becoming President

In 2012, he was the first US President to vote early. He and the Clinton campaign have been urging people to vote early.

Unlike India, election day is not a holiday and government employees do not get half a day leave to go out and vote.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.