Today Is Last Day To Register To Vote

Updated 10/09/12 - 6:40 p.m.

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Today is the last day to register to vote in the 2012 presidential election.

CBS 2's Jim Williams reports voters have been lining up all day at the offices of the Chicago Board of Elections at 69 W. Washington St., though official said the lines shouldn't intimidate voters – it takes little time to register.

All over Chicago today, the last minute push was on to register eligible voters.

At the CTA's Belmont 'L' Station, volunteers registered voters. So did volunteers at President Barack Obama's former church, Trinity United Church of Christ.

Rev. Otis Moss said, "We think it's incredibly important to make sure that we turn out people on Tuesday, Nov. 6."

Voter power was the focus of the Latino Policy Forum.

Charlie Serrano, an international economic development consultant, said "We can be our own history makers, and design our own destiny."

As CBS 2's Susanna Song reports, early this morning, more than a dozen people stopped for a moment to register at the CTA Red Line station at 95th Street and the Dan Ryan.

People also paid a visit to the Cook County Clerk's Office, also located at 69 W. Washington St., to register to vote in the Cook County suburbs.

"I heard about it on the news," said Kevin Marshall. "I heard today was the deadline. If you don't vote, you don't get the right person."

Next month's election is a big deal for Eun Ju Sohn.

"I just became a citizen, so I'm really happy," she said.

Chicago Board of Elections spokesman Jim Allen said one group of newly-registered voters has stood out this year: young voters who have had to re-register to vote, because they are often on the move.

"Almost all of them, the dates of birth are from the late 70s, 80s, and 90s," he said. "They tend to be at a stage in life when they're changing jobs, they just got married. … changing addresses."

Bunthay San and Andrew Dering said they were surprised at how easy and fast it was to register.

"In a matter of minutes," San said. So there's really no excuse for eligible voters to not register.

"Not at all," she said. "You need to register. Come down here."

The Chicago Board of Elections office at 69 W. Washington St. will be open until midnight Tuesday night. The County Clerk's Office at 69 W. Washington St. also is open until midnight.

You need two forms of identification-one with your picture, and another with your current address.

RELATED: Information On Voter Registration

Officials said voter registration is down this year, compared to 2008, because Illinois is firmly in President Barack Obama's camp, and there's not the same excitement about his race, now that the U.S. already has its first black president.

But officials said they want to remind voters there are many other races up for election – including the Congressional races, and every seat in the Illinois House and Senate.