direct democracy: Chicago

Plan your November 3 ballot race by race, see every candidate side by side, and keep your picks on your phone. Early voting opens in every ward October 19.

direct democracy is a free Chicago civic app: one place to see what your neighbors care about, hold your alderman to account, and get ready to vote.

ASK YOUR ALDERMAN ANYTHING Every Chicago alderman has a page. Ask a question in public, join the questions your neighbors ask, and see whether the answer was a real answer: the community judges each response as answered or dodged. Each alderman gets a report card built from verified residents of their own ward.

THE BIG BOARD Raise a concern about the city or your ward and rate how urgent other concerns are. The board ranks them by the people, and every vote is counted two ways: everyone, and verified Chicago residents only.

YOUR WARD Pick your ward to see its concerns, your alderman's grade, Council votes, and how to take part: ward meetings, zoning changes and hearings with their comment deadlines, police district council meetings, and the ward office's address, hours, and newsletter.

PLAN YOUR BALLOT The election tab covers the November 3, 2026 ballot and the February 2027 race for mayor. Enter your address once to see the races on your ballot: Congress, the state legislature, county offices, the school board, judges up for retention, and every district race. Compare candidates side by side, then pick in each race with My ballot. Your picks stay on your phone, and you can share the list or take it with you to vote. Dates, early voting sites in every ward, and mail ballot links are all there.

CHICAGO NEWS IN ONE PLACE The news tab lists headlines from Chicago newsrooms, newest first, never ranked. Turn sources and languages on or off, or narrow it to stories that name your ward.

CITY COUNCIL See the next two weeks of Council meetings with public comment deadlines and agendas, and how your alderman voted when the Council split.

VERIFIED, AND PRIVATE Anyone can use the app. Verifying that you are an adult Chicago resident (optional, through Didit) makes your votes count in the verified tallies. The app keeps only a yes or no and your ward and district numbers: never your ID, your address, or your face.

IN SEVEN LANGUAGES English, Español, 中文, Polski, Tagalog, 한국어, and हिन्दी.

Every screen has a "?" that explains what is on it and what you can do there.