Voting by mail in November to avoid COVID? Here’s how to make sure your ballot counts.
Ann Smith woke up last Saturday morning to find her internet company had shut off her service.
The 59-year-old Belleville resident had mailed a money order for $55 on August 7 from the downtown post office, feeling certain it would reach Spectrum, six miles away in Shiloh, by the Aug. 13 due date.
It didn’t arrive until August 18. By then, Smith had already paid her bill in person and had her service restored.
The good news is Smith’s bill for next month is already paid. The bad news is she doesn’t trust the United States Postal Service to reliably handle her ballot for the Nov. 3 election.
“I was like, really? This is messed up. And now the stuff going on with the election?” said Smith, who has voted in every election since she turned 18. “I’m going to make sure they get my vote just like I did in (the March primary).”
So despite the risk in facing crowds and potentially coronavirus at the polls, she plans to vote in person on Election Day.
But thousands of others in the metro-east don’t want to take the chance in a pandemic, and plan to take advantage of voting by mail despite the recent concerns about late delivery.
Voting by mail will still be reliable, local county clerks say, but with this stipulation: Voters have to move quickly.
Voting by mail? Do it early
Cost-cutting at the U.S. Postal Service worries people like Smith in a year when metro-east election officials expect half of all ballots to be cast by mail. To expand voters’ ability to do so, Illinois lawmakers passed special legislation in the spring.
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy paused some cost-cutting measures — such as removing mail drop boxes — after facing pressure from lawmakers and state lawsuits over concerns about the election and delivery for at-risk communities in need of prescription medication.
But local election authorities continue to urge voters to cast their ballots as soon as possible if voting by mail. St. Clair County Clerk Tom Holbrook received a letter from the U.S. Postal Service saying voters should get their completed ballots in the mail no later than 15 days prior to Election Day, and “preferably long before that time.”
In Illinois, a ballot will count as long as it’s postmarked by Election Day and received within two weeks by the election authority. Under that rule, a voter could theoretically mail their ballot on Oct. 27 and rest assured it will be counted. But county clerks don’t want anyone to wait that long, said Madison County Clerk Debbie Ming-Mendoza.
“I want the voters to be aware that the second they get that ballot, do not delay and let it lay on your table for a week or two and then expect that I should get it back in a timely manner,” Ming-Mendoza said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen with the postal service. There’s no explaining how I can get a letter in two days versus a week or why it took so long. Those are unknowns to me. But what is known to me is that if ballot is not postmarked by Nov. 3, I can’t accept it.”
Ballot drop boxes
Illinois has a fairly robust vote-by-mail system, Holbrook said, and so this year isn’t “reinventing the wheel.” But to be sure everyone can submit their ballots easily and safely, his office will place a secure drop box outside the courthouse in downtown Belleville where voters can leave their mail ballots.
It will be sealed, locked and have surveillance cameras pointed at it, he said.
But the drop boxes are the latest target of President Donald Trump, who claims they allow for voter fraud. His reelection campaign filed a lawsuit in Pennsylvania in June to stop them from being used — Democratic lawmakers have countersued — and Trump has repeated false claims that voting by mail is rife with fraud.
A drop box will be available in Madison County as well, but inside near the county clerk’s office, where voters can also hand their ballots to staff. Ming-Mendoza said it’s the most secure location she can find.
“We need locations that give the people concerned about fraud some comfort, and people concerned about COVID some comfort,” Ming-Mendoza said. “I’m trying to walk that fine line.”
In rural Clinton County, Clerk Vicky Albers says her office doesn’t have the resources to install a secure drop box in time. Voters can return their ballot in person at the office, but otherwise if they want to avoid lines at the polls, they’ll need to either vote early or vote by mail.
“I tell people to vote early or return (their ballot) as soon as possible,” Albers said. “I don’t think people will have any problem, other than people who wait until closer to the election.”
And this year, if they send their ballot by mail, voters in most places will also be able to track its progress online. On St. Clair County’s website, for instance, a portal is already available where people can enter their name and either their social security or driver’s license numbers to track their vote-by-mail registration.
How does voting by mail work in Illinois?
On Sept. 24, county clerks will begin mailing ballots to those who applied and were approved for one.
Anyone who voted in 2018, 2019 or 2020 should have automatically received a vote-by-mail application through the postal service or email. Voters should apply for a ballot by Oct. 19 if they want to vote by mail, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin said Thursday after a call with state election leaders.
If the application was approved prior to Sept. 24, it should take a week or less for the ballot to arrive. If the ballot hasn’t arrived by Oct. 6, the voter should call their local election authority.
Once received, the voter should promptly fill out and return their ballot, either by mail, to a drop box or to their election authority’s office. The absolute latest voters should mail their ballots is Oct. 27.
If someone received a vote-by-mail ballot but decides to vote in person, they will have to bring their ballot with them and provide it to election judges. Their name will not be on the books at the polling place.
People can still vote in person, either early or on Election Day. Early voting begins Sept. 24 and ends Nov. 2. On Election Day, voters can expect to be required to wear a mask and social distance at the polls.
This story was originally published August 22, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
