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Happy Friday. Enter the weekend with the latest from WTTW News.
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Chicago Votes conducts jail outreach efforts through the Cook County Sheriff’s Office. (Courtesy of Chicago Votes)
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In 2019, Illinois directed county jails and local election officials to establish a process that would allow those in custody awaiting trial to cast ballots during elections.
Those behind the law said the move was an effort to guarantee everyone legally allowed to vote had access to the ballot box.
To see how local sheriffs and election officials have actually implemented voting, WTTW News reached out to every county jail in Illinois with a set of three questions.
About how many people voted in the last election at your jail, and how did they vote?
What information about issues and candidates on the ballot are provided to those in your custody?
How will your jail handle voting in the primary and general elections for those in your custody in 2026?
WTTW News received responses from 48 of the 90 county jails in the state. Many did not respond, while a handful refused to comment on the voting rights of those in their custody.
More context:
In Illinois, the pre-sentenced jail population was 14,360 as of June 2025, according to the most recently available data from the Loyola Chicago Center for Criminal Justice.
Cook, Will and Lake are the only counties that confirmed they provide a temporary polling place for those incarcerated. Cook County Jail has received attention for its polling place; Will and Lake followed suit after a 2022 law expanded temporary polling places at jails in counties with populations of less than 3 million people.
While Cook is required under the law to set up a polling place, other counties may do so if they choose.
Most other jails use mail-in ballots. A few transport residents to vote in person, while others have the clerk collect the ballots.
According to the 48 responses from local sheriffs, two of their jails have education programs involving collaboration with external organizations, while one-third relied on television news, self-guided research on tablets or family to provide election information. More than three in five reported they provide no information to eligible voters in jail.
Eight of the 48 counties reported no voter participation in the last election cycle.
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Sponsor Message
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The Poetry Foundation, the publisher of Poetry magazine, welcomes you to experience it for yourself with FREE public programs and resources! On March 12, Chicago Poet Laureate Mayda del Valle will perform alongside Illinois Poet Laureate Mark Turcotte. Later in the month, straight out of the pages of Poetry, Frank X Walker will read with Affrilachian poets Kelly Norman Ellis, Nikky Finney, and Parneshia Jones.
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The Rev. Jesse Jackson is honored at a memorial in Chicago at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition headquarters on Feb. 26, 2026. (WTTW News)
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“Let us continue with the work.”
That was the call to action from the family of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, a civil rights activist and religious leader who died last week at the age of 84.
Born in South Carolina, Jackson has deep roots in Chicago, having been appointed by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to run Chicago’s Operation Breadbasket.
Jackson went on to run for president twice, finishing second in the 1988 Democratic presidential primary.
Santita Jackson, host of the Santita Jackson Show and Jesse Jackson’s daughter, joined “Chicago Tonight” to remember her father.
On her father as a leader:
“One of the things that I learned from him was that he never had enemies. He had opponents. You would be surprised at the people with whom he was able to interact. He could speak with President Trump, and he did. He could speak to people on the far right. He could speak to people on the far left, and they all liked him very much. You knew exactly what he stood for.”
What else happened:
A line of mourners streamed through the Rainbow PUSH Coalition's Kenwood headquarters Thursday to pay final respects to the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. His death has been felt strongly in Chicago, where Jackson lived for decades and raised his six children.
Contonia Stone-Wooten, 64, was among those who paid their respects Thursday.
“He had us all stand up to say, ‘I am somebody,’” Stone-Wooten said. “I’ve always kept that as a mantra in my life. When I had some dark days, I just thought about, ‘I Am Somebody,' that speech."
Aamir Barett, 11, was among a group of students at Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. Academy of Social Justice who attended the service.
“Jesse Jackson is the reason we have Barack Obama as our first Black president. … He also helped us with the Civil Rights Movement,” Aamir said. “We have to carry on his legacy because he helped Black people have freedom.”
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In this March 12, 2015 file photo, Heather Mack, left, and her boyfriend Tommy Schaefer, both from Chicago, Ill., who are accused of of murdering Mack's mother Sheila von Wiese-Mack whose body was later found in a suitcase, enter the court room prior to the start of their trial hearing at the district court in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati, File)
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Tommy Schaefer, the man who allegedly conspired with his then-girlfriend Heather Mack to kill her mother at a luxury resort in Bali, said he intends to represent himself and pleaded not guilty to the crime in a Chicago courtroom Thursday, more than 11 years after the brutal murder.
Schaefer, 32, entered the plea on charges of conspiracy to kill someone in a foreign country, conspiracy to commit murder and obstruction of justice during a Thursday morning hearing before U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly at the Dirksen Federal Building in downtown Chicago. Kennelly set a trial date for January 2027.
Schaefer appeared in court wearing an orange prison jumpsuit and blew a kiss to supporters inside the 21st-floor courtroom.
Schaefer on Thursday told Kennelly that he intends to represent himself at trial. While it is his right to do so, Kennelly informed him that it’s “a really bad idea.”
Some backstory:
Schaefer was previously convicted in Bali and sentenced to 18 years in prison for the 2014 murder of Sheila von Wiese-Mack, a wealthy Chicago socialite, during a luxury vacation in what became known as the Bali “suitcase murder.” Her body was found in a suitcase in the trunk of a taxi parked at the upscale St. Regis Bali Resort in August 2014.
He served 11 years of that sentence before being released and deported back to the U.S. from Bali International Airport on Tuesday. He was then taken into federal custody in Chicago, where he is currently being held pending trial.
Schaefer and Heather Mack, who were dating at the time, were allegedly trying to gain access to a $1.5 million trust fund when they plotted the murder.
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More From WTTW News:
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Back in the Day: February 27, 2021 - Loyola Ramblers Win 3rd Missouri Valley Conference Regular Season Title In 4 Years
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Back in 2013, the Loyola Ramblers basketball team was in a transitional period. They left their longtime conference the Horizon League after 34 years and had hired in 2011 a new coach, Porter Moser, to revamp the program. The shift worked: in 2018, the team made a thrilling and improbable run to the Final Four of March Madness. They kept the momentum going strong, because on this day five years ago, the Ramblers won their third Missouri Valley Conference regular season title in four years. Thanks to the stellar play of Cameron Krutwig and Lucas Williamson, they beat the Southern Illinois Salukis 65-58, winning their 14th game in 15 outings and setting a franchise record for most
conference wins in a single season. They’d later secure another slot in the March Madness tournament.
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Other News From Around Town
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Every Friday, WTTW News highlights interesting stories about Chicago from the local and national press.
Double Door Owners Abandon Plan To Reopen In Uptown — Block Club Chicago
“After years of planning, renovations and even a substantial city grant, the famed Double Door rock club will not be reopening in Uptown after all.
Double Door co-owner Sean Mulroney confirmed on Tuesday that the music venue, which was a Wicker Park staple for decades before closing in 2017 after a protracted eviction fight, will no longer open at the old Wilson Theater at 1050 W. Wilson Ave.
Mulroney and building owner Peter Bruce have been attempting to relaunch the Double Door at the space since 2019, although the project encountered many delays, starting around the pandemic.”
In Fiery Meeting, Rep. Delia Ramirez Issues Demands, Reminds DHS Head Noem of Plans To Pursue Her Impeachment — Chicago Sun-Times
“Rep. Delia Ramirez met face to face with Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Wednesday in a combative closed-door meeting in Washington and told her in no uncertain terms — twice — that she’ll work to impeach her.
Ramirez, a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, spent about 35 minutes with Noem, who also brought her son to the meeting and was seated behind the secretary. Noem in December told Ramirez at a committee hearing that she would meet with her after repeated requests — despite the Ramirez accusing the agency head of violating court orders and lying to the public.
It began and ended with the Illinois Democrat warning Noem that her days in the administration could be numbered.”
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What's your favorite touristy thing to do in Chicago?
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Email DailyChicagoan@wttw.com with your responses and your answers might be published. Here's what you had to
say:
"Boat architecture tours!!!" — @claire_yvonne
"Summer concerts at Pritzker Pavilion... They're free and ready to attend!" — @dmercedesh
"Taking visitors to the Sears Tower Skydeck!" — @hooray4themadness
"Go to the Art Institute" — @genasciortino
"Walk at Navy Pier or Museum Row, they have beautiful views of the city" — @meli_mel91
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5:30 PM | 7:00 PM
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Want more WTTW News content? Follow WTTW on Instagram to check in with us daily, go behind-the-scenes, and more.
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Newsletter Producer: Josh Terry
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