President Obama took a break from campaigning on Thursday to cast an early ballot in his hometown of Chicago. Speaking at the polling center, Obama encouraged Americans to take advantage of early voting.

President Obama: “For all of you who have not yet early voted, I just want everybody to see what an incredibly efficient process this was, thanks to the outstanding folks who are at this particular polling place. Obviously folks in Illinois can take advantage of this, but all across the country we’re seeing a lot of early voting. It means you don’t have to figure out whether you need to take time off work, figure out how to pick up the kids and still cast your ballot. If something happens on Election Day, you will have already taken care of it. If it’s bad weather, you won’t get wet, or, in Chicago, snowy. But, you know, this was really convenient.”