The Hill News

First lady Michelle Obama cast her ballot early for Nov. 2's elections during a stop Thursday at a community center in Chicago.

Obama, who, along with the president, retains her voter registration in Chicago, stopped at the Martin Luther King Center on the city's South Side to vote.

"Make sure everybody’s voting early," the first lady told a voting official, according to a pool report.

President Obama and his wife have been actively promoting early voting as part of their effort to increase turnout on behalf of Democratic candidates this fall. Party leaders believe that if many of the voters who turned out in 2008 on behalf of Obama return to the polls in 2010, it could help them hang onto the House and the Senate.

The first lady's voting on Thursday comes in the middle of a campaign swing through the Midwest on behalf of Democratic candidates. She was in her hometown overnight after a fundraiser for Alexi Giannoulias, the ! Democratic candidate for the president's former Senate seat.

There are other key races in which Michelle Obama would have been voting today, including a contested governor's race and, according to the pool report, 78 judges' races.

Not on the ballot this time around was the race to replace retiring Chicago Mayor Richard Daley. Former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is running to replace Daley, but elections for that won't be held until early 2011.