Illinois

The deadline to cure (correct) your absentee/mail ballot is 14 days after the election .You will receive a notice with the reason or reasons your ballot was rejected and shall state that the voter may appear before the election authority to show cause as to why your ballot should not be rejected.  

If you voted by provisional ballot, you may submit additional information to your local election officials. Any additional information to show that you are a registered voter or eligible to vote, must be received no later than the close of business the Thursday following Election Day. You can track the status of your provisional ballot using your state’s online tool. 

For information on federal campaign contributions, please visit Open Secrets. For state-specific information, click here. 

Information on local, state and federal candidates and ballot measures may be available here.

Vote-by-mail drop boxes will be installed in some locations. Check your State Board of Elections website to see if there is a drop box in your jurisdiction.  

Early Voting Starts: 40 days before Election Day 

Early Voting Ends: The day before Election Day 

Locations and hours for early voting are determined by each election authority.

For more information about early voting locations, check our your state's resource.

The next election date can be found here https://www.vote411.org/illinois.

The polls are open from 6:00 am to 7:00 pm.

To be eligible to vote, you must be:

• A US citizen
• At least 18 years of age by Election Day
  • 17-year-olds may vote in a General Primary if they will be 18 by the following General Election
  • 16-year-olds may pre-register to vote so they may start voting as soon as they turn 18
• Have been a resident of the precinct at least 30 days prior to Election Day
• Not be serving a sentence of confinement in any penal institution as a result of any conviction
• Not be registered to vote elsewhere

Incarcerated Voters & Returning Citizens: 

In Illinois, you only lose your right to vote if you are currently incarcerated for a misdemeanor or felony conviction. If you lost your voting rights because of a conviction, you could register to vote immediately after release. Your voting rights are not restricted by pretrial detention, misdemeanors, probation, or parole. 

Voters without traditional residence: 

In Illinois, voters must provide a residence address for voter registration purposes. When providing the residence address, post office boxes should not be used. Individuals without a permanent or fixed home address may draw a map in the designated box on their voter registration form to indicate the exact location of where they stay. They should list the name of the subdivision; cross streets; roads; landmarks; mileage and/or neighbors’ names. 

If the individual does not receive postal service at their residence address, they must provide a separate mailing address, including the number, street, city, state, and zip code. The mailing address on their registration form can be a P.O. box, local shelter, advocacy organization, outreach center, or the home of someone who will accept mail for them. 

Two forms of identification are required when registering to vote, one of which must show your current residential address.

If you register by mail, sufficient proof of identity is fulfilled by submission of your driver's license number or state identification card number.

If you don't have either of those, verification by one of the following will be required:

• the last 4 digits of your Social Security Number
• a copy of a current and valid photo ID
• a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, paycheck, government check, or other governmental document that shows your name and address

You may also demonstrate sufficient proof of identity by submission of a photo ID issued by a college or university along with either a copy of the applicant's contract or lease for a residence or a postmarked mail delivered to the applicant at his or her current address.

If you register by mail, you must vote in person the first time you vote unless you submit your driver license number or state ID number, the last four digits of your social security number or one of the forms of ID listed above.

Official results are never available on Election Day. Election officials are working around the clock to count an unprecedented number of ballots, and it’s essential that they take the time to make sure every vote is counted.

Official election results will be uploaded on the Illinois Board of Elections website as they become available.

You are a Military or Overseas voter if you are in uniformed services, living overseas OR a spouse or dependent of a uniformed services voter. To get registered and vote, you can utilize Overseas Vote Foundation.

If you have additional questions about elections and voting overseas you can use our state specific elections official directory or contact the Overseas Vote Foundation.

You can ensure we have safe, fair, and efficient elections. Become a poll worker today!

To be a poll worker in Illinois:

• You must be registered to vote in Illinois
• You must be at least 18 years of age
• Political affiliation required
• Term requirement of 2 years
• You will be entitled to compensation
• You must be a resident of the precinct for the 30 days before the election
• You must complete the required training
• Students with citizenship who are juniors or seniors in good standing enrolled in a public or private secondary school; may work with written permission from a parent or guardian and school principal and must have a cumulative GPA of 3.0

To sign up, contact your local board of elections.

You can find your polling place by utilizing your state resource.

If you have further questions on your polling place location, please contact your county clerk.

Illinois is a “partially open” primary state. This allows voters to cross party lines, however, they must first publicly declare their ballot choice. Ballot selection may also be regarded as a form of registration with the selected party. 

If you have any questions about your state’s primary election, please contact your local election officials.

You may vote a provisional ballot if you meet specific conditions. Provisional ballots are counted 14 days after an election. To find out if your vote was counted, please use your state's provisional ballot tool.

An election judge will issue you a provisional ballot at your polling place if:

• Your name does not appear on the official list of eligible voters in that precinct
• Your voting status has been challenged and a majority of the judges uphold the challenge
• You did not provide ID when registering by mail and still don't provide ID on Election Day
• A court order extends the time for closing the polls and you vote during this extended time period
• Your name appears on the list of voters who voted during early voting
• You admit to receiving a vote by mail ballot but did not return the un-voted ballot to the election authority
• You tried to register on Election Day but failed to provide the necessary documentation

By law, you must vote in your assigned precinct for all votes on your provisional ballot to count.

The Help America Vote Act requires that election authorities have voting equipment for voters with disabilities to vote privately and independently, and Illinois is no exception. Additionally, there are options for a seated voting booth, voting assistance from a friend, relative, or two election judges (one from each party), voting by mail, and curbside voting.

Language assistance is also available where required under amendments to the Federal Voting Act of 1992.

For more information on the provisions available for disabled voters, please contact your local election authority.

For more information, you can utilize the American Association of People With Disabilities (AAPD) resource.

Every employee is entitled, after giving notice, to two hours paid time off work, provided that the employee's working hours begin less than 2 hours after the opening of the polls and end less than 2 hours before the closing of the polls. 

To verify your voter registration status

If you are a registered voter in Illinois, you may apply to be added to a permanent vote-by-mail list. If your application for permanent vote-by-mail status is accepted you will:

• Receive an official vote by mail ballot for all subsequent elections
• Remain on the permanent vote by mail list until you provide a written request to be removed or if there are any changes to your voter registration status

A notice of this new option will be sent to all qualified voters before the next general election along with the application to opt-in. Voters will still have the option to vote-by-mail for a single election. The permanent vote-by-mail application will be available online closer to the next election here. 

Identification is not required to vote at the polls, although you will be required to verify your signature. If you registered to vote-by-mail and did not submit any ID with the registration, you must show a form of ID to vote.

Acceptable forms are:

• A current and valid photo ID
• Utility bill
• Bank statement
• Government check
• Paycheck
• Lease or contract for residence
• Student ID and mail addressed to voter's residence
• Government document

All forms of the IDs above must show your name and address. If you do not show any ID types, you will be asked to vote a Provisional Ballot.

A government-issued photo ID is not required to vote during Early Voting as long as your registration is accurate and up to date. 

Voters can call or text 844-338-8743 anytime to reach VoteRiders Voter ID Helpline.

 Online registration deadline: 16 days before Election Day

Register by mail deadline: Postmarked 28 days before Election Day

In-person registration deadline: Available up to and including Election Day

Please note that if you register by mail, you must vote in person at your polling place or by in-person absentee voting the first time you cast a ballot. This requirement applies unless you are disabled, in the military, or have provided sufficient identification during your registration.

Not registered? Use our online registration tool to complete your application! 

The voting systems used in Illinois are optical scan and DRE.

To find out what voting machine is used in your county, please visit your state's resource.

Optical Scan: With this system, you will receive a card or sheet of paper, which you take over to a private table or booth. The card has the names of the various candidates and ballot measures printed on it. With a pen or pencil you fill in a little box or circle or the space between two arrows. When you are finished filling out all the cards, you may bring the cards over to a ballot box, where poll workers will show you how to put the cards in the box. Or in some places, you may feed the completed cards or papers into a computer device that checks your card or paper right there at the polling place to make sure you have voted the way you want to and counts the votes.

Direct Recording Electronic (DRE): This is the newest kind of system in use in the U.S. All the information about who and what you are voting for is on an electronic screen like a TV or computer screen.

There are many variations of DREs because lots of companies are inventing new ones, and many cities, counties and states are trying them out. Usually, after you have signed in, the poll workers will give you a card that you slide into a device to start your voting session.

Some of these devices will show all of the candidates and ballot choices on one big screen. Often, with these big screen devices you push a button next to the name of the candidate you want to vote for (or yes or no on a ballot measure). On other DREs, the screen is set up to show pages. On each screen or page, there will probably be one thing to vote on. For example, on one screen or page, you might vote for president. Then you might move to the next page to vote for senator. Often these small-screen devices have a touch screen, where you touch the screen next to the name of the person you want to vote for. Other devices have a key pad. Some have a keyboard, so you can write in the name of someone you want to vote for.

You let the system know you are finished voting by pushing a button, touching the screen or entering something on a keypad.

You can learn more about voting systems by checking out the Elections Assistance Commission's (EAC) resource or through Verified Voting.