Sounds like you've got grounds for a lawsuit. Go for it. Hope the RNC helps. (PS: Got the time and money to fly to Wisconsin to do same-day register and vote?)
Blackfives latest update. Glad to hear it worked out. Not happy about the situation, which needs more investigation in my opinion. Smells fishy.
Update 3:30PM CST: Visited the Cook County Board of Elections. There were about fifty people complaining about the same thing. I received the following information:
1. There were hundreds of complaints from the 42nd Ward (my ward), but more from all over the county. Think about that - how many people do you think that were not allowed to vote that did not complain about disenfranchisement.
2. Provisional Ballots were sent to all precincts. More were recently sent to the 42nd Ward locations.
3. I was instructed to go back to my precinct and vote by provisional ballot.
4. After I asked about ten times (all the while sympathizing with the person about how hard her job must be today), I was told that there was a foul up in the County and there could be thousands and thousands of problems in Cook County Precincts.
So, I schlepped back to my precinct, waited another hour in line, had to talk to the same Mensa Candidates about my voter registration (I had my voter card, for pete's sake!) - the best part was when the judge asked me if anyone in the voting area could vouch for my residency and about twenty people shouted at him that they knew me and to give me a damn ballot. FINALLY, I was able to vote by provisional ballot.
There were about ten people around me that also had to endure the same crap to vote by provisional ballot - all claimed to be registered voters and residents. One was the Condo Association President of the very building that we were in, yet the judge wanted more proof.
Here's my receipt for voting on a Cook County/Chicago ballot.