Illinois voters have already requested over 1 million vote-by-mail ballots. | Stock photo/Adobe
Illinois voters have already requested over 1 million vote-by-mail ballots. | Stock photo/Adobe
Already, over 1 million vote-by-mail ballots have been requested in Illinois with more expected to come.
With the deadline for applying still over a month away, Illinois may easily break its vote-by-mail record set in the 2018 elections, according to the Illinois State Board of Elections (ISBE), as reported in the Aledo Times Record.
To ease voters’ concerns over COVID-19 and voting safety, the General Assembly earlier this year used legislation to automatically provide voters from the past three elections with vote-by-mail request forms, approximately 6.4 million people. Voters appear to be taking advantage of this option.
In Sangamon County, where usually more than 80% of voters show up in person, county clerk Don Gray said 24,645 requests for mail-in ballots have already been received.
With the U.S. Postal Service expecting congestion, ISBE spokesperson Matt Dietrich is suggesting voters be proactive.
“We’re going to be preaching to people, 'early, early, early,'” he said at a Citizens Club meeting in Springfield, according to the Aledo Times Record. “Apply early, return it.”
For their votes to count, mail-in voters must ensure their ballots are received by local authorities no later than Nov. 17 and postmarked on or before Nov. 3.
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