President Barack Obama casts early vote in Chicago

Washington, Oct 8: US President Barack Obama has cast his ballot for the November 8 general elections, which would elect his successor, by taking benefit of the provision of "early voting" in his home town of Chicago.

Early voting, which has gained popularity in the last few election cycle, allows a voter to exercise their right to vote several weeks ahead of the main date of the general elections. Though it varies from State to State, in some cases it can go back to as many as 50 days.

However, he did not tell the press travelling with him, who did he vote for. In fact, he pretended to hide his voting in a basement of the Chicago Board of Elections.

Obama has been campaigning for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton to succeed him in the Oval Office. After locating his machine and beginning to vote, Obama looked up at the pool and cracked, "they can't see who I'm voting for can they?" and feigned an effort to shield the screen.

Asked who he voted for, the US President looked up and smirked. "Voted early today. Make sure you vote too," Obama said in a tweet.

Obama, 55, was a US senator from Illinois prior to becoming president In 2012, he was the first US President to vote early. He and the Clinton campaign have been urging people to vote early. Unlike India, election day is not a holiday and government employees do not get half a day leave to go out and vote.

PTI