I hope that all of you already have one of these. If not, go get one today!

So unless you've been living under a rock for the past year you're aware that we've got an election coming up. In fact, early voting started Monday, so get out and do it, y'all. I'm not here to tell you who to vote for. Instead, I'm here to call your attention to the fact that there's other stuff on the ballot for Chicago voters that may catch them by surprise.

If you're a landlord or renter you have a couple of choices to make that may be more important than your presidential vote. One involves power - the electrical kind - and the other involves the people downtown at the courthouse who preside over eviction lawsuits.

A Little Early Morning Opacity

I tend to vote early in the day before it gets crowded. This year I'll have to remember to drink some coffee before I head out, as I'm going to be confronted with some pretty opaque questions on page one of the ballot before I even get to choosing between Mr. Obama (D), Mr. Romney (R), Mr. Johnson (L) and Ms. Stein (G) and assorted candidates for the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District. I'm also going to have to go earlier than normal, as I'd bet most voters are going to be scratching their heads as they try to untangle these four massive questions and the lines could be longer than normal. (more…)