Voting by mail strongly encouraged for county residents concerned about coronavirus

 

[July 28, 2020] 

With coronavirus a continuing concern as the 2020 General Election approaches, Logan County Clerk Theresa Moore encourages voters to consider voting by mail as a safe, secure and convenient alternative to in-person voting.

This year, the Illinois General Assembly passed an election bill that provides many safeguards against the spread of coronavirus in the voting process for the November 3 General Election. Chief among them are provisions to increase voting by mail throughout the state.

“Vote-by-mail has been a convenient and secure voting procedure for several years,” says County Clerk Moore. “This year, vote-by-mail is also a safeguard against the spread of COVID-19 by minimizing person-to- person contact at polling places.”

Among the special vote-by-mail provisions for the 2020 General Election are:

• All voters who voted by mail in either the March 2020 Primary, April 2019 Consolidated or November 2018 General Elections will receive an application for a vote-by-mail ballot

• Those who registered to vote or updated their registration between March 18 and July 31 will be mailed an application for vote-by-mail ballot

• The state’s online voter registration site now allows users to request a mail ballot when they register

• A vote-by-mail application is available on the County Clerk’s website (logancountyil.gov)

Applications to vote-by-mail will be sent to voters who meet any of the above criteria this week. Moore states, “Voters should not be surprised if they receive a vote-by-mail application even though they have not initiated the process with our office. The new legislation asks us to identify particular groups of voters and proactively provide them with the application to vote-by-mail. Our office is going above and beyond this legislation by mailing applications to all registered voters in Logan County. If you have already returned a signed application, you may disregard this application. This is an effort to curb the spread of Coronavirus.” Moore further states, “Receiving an application is not an obligation to vote-by-mail.”

Ballots will be mailed to voters who complete and return a vote-by-mail application. Ballots will be mailed beginning September 24. The deadline for applying for a mail ballot is 4:30 p.m. October 29. Ballots must be postmarked no later than November 3 to be counted. Properly postmarked ballots will be counted through November 17.

The new law also establishes protocols to ensure proper verification of ballots before they are accepted and to inform voters in a timely manner if their ballot is rejected. This begins with a review of the voter’s signature by a panel of three election judges within two days of receipt of the voted ballot. A ballot may be rejected for an invalid signature only by unanimous decision of the judges.

The ballot may be rejected if two of the three judges agree that:

• The ballot envelope was delivered opened

• The certification envelope contains no signature

• The voter has already cast a ballot

• The voter voted in person on Election Day

• The voter is not a duly registered voter.

If a ballot is rejected based on an objection to the signature, lack of signature, or the ballot envelope was delivered opened, the voter must be notified within two days or within one day if the rejection occurs after Election Day. The new law contains provisions for the voter to address these problems.

Moore concludes, “The Logan County Clerk’s office is diligently preparing for the November Election. We are ready for the expansion of the vote-by-mail process and encourage voters to take advantage of this convenience. If you do not receive an application and would like to vote by mail, please contact our office. As always, we are happy to answer any questions you may have. Contact our office during business hours, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday by phone [phone]) or email us anytime ([e-mail]).”

[Theresa Moore
Logan County Clerk and Recorder]