VALPARAISO | Residents in Porter County's cities and towns will be heading to the polls today to choose their municipal officials.

Voters in Portage will elect a mayor and City Council members. In Valparaiso, the mayoral race is uncontested, but control of the City Council is in voters' hands.

There also are contested races in Chesterton, Porter, Ogden Dunes, Beverly Shores, Burns Harbor, Kouts and Hebron.

According to the Porter County voter registration office, about 700 Porter County residents already have cast their votes via absentee ballots. For the majority of residents who didn't participate in early voting, polling places throughout the county are open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. today.

Because there are no township, county or state level races this year, individuals living in unincorporated Porter County will not be voting. This year's races in Porter County consist solely of city and town council, clerk-treasurer and mayoral races.

Any resident planning to vote today needs to bring one of the following pieces of identification with them to the polling place: an Indiana drivers license, an Indiana state ID, a U.S. passport or an official military ID. Each form of identification must be current.

According to Jane Pecor from the voter registration office, most polling places will experience three "rush-hour" times throughout the day.

"There are a lot of people at the polls right after they open, a lot of people at the polls right before they close and a lot of people at the polls between 11:30 and 1:30 since people vote during their lunch break," Pecor said. "If you're going to go at these times, be prepared."

Most of the precincts have been kept the same since the primary elections in May, with a few exceptions. Any individual whose polling location has been changed should have received a letter in the mail from the voter registration office notifying them of the new location.

Some of the most recent changes came in early October, when commissioners agreed to the following changes: Jackson Township 1 will vote at the Westchester Township 14 site at Brummitt Elementary School; Liberty Township 1 will vote at the Westchester Township 18 site at Bethlehem Lutheran Church; and Liberty Township 5 will vote at the Westchester Township 3 site at Bailey School.

Residents who do not know where they are supposed to vote can go to www.porterco.org/voter_registration.html or call the voter registration office at (219) 465-3484.