Illinoisans can now permanently register to vote by mail in primary and general elections, empowering voters to cast their ballots from the kitchen table rather than a local polling place.

As Election Day approaches Nov. 8, common myths about mail-in voting are gaining wider circulation. Here are the facts you should know about voting by mail.

Myth: Criminals will ask for “replacement ballots” or duplicate the ballot and vote multiple times.

Fact: Ballot envelopes mailed to your home are barcoded to individual voters. Only the first ballot submitted by any voter, with a registered bar code on the envelope, will be accepted. Voters who submit multiple ballots could be prosecuted for criminal intent.

Studies consistently find there is no evidence mail ballots increase electoral fraud.

U.S. military members have been voting by mail since the Revolutionary War.

Myth: Criminals can intercept the mail and vote on my ballot.

Fact: Illinois requires every returned ballot envelope to be signed by the voter it was registered to. Each of these signatures is then validated by election authorities based on official signatures already on file.

If the signature doesn’t match, the voter is contacted immediately to resolve the discrepancy. This “cure” period extends 14 days after Election Day to allow all votes to be counted. If a resident loses or does not receive their ballot, they can contact their local election office for a replacement.

Myth: If you mail out ballots, non-citizens and the dead will be able to vote.

Fact: Ballots are only sent to active registered voters. The question of U.S. citizenship is determined during the voter registration process, before ballots are mailed. Illinois also employs an automated process to regularly match public death records to voter registration lists to prevent ballots being sent to deceased voters.

Myth: Voters move around without updating their addresses, leaving ballots for other residents to use.

Fact: Illinois automatically updates residents’ addresses through voter registration procedures and cross matches these residents against the U.S. Postal Service’s National Change of Address database. These vote-by-mail ballots are not forwarded in the mail.

Illinois also shares address data through the Electronic Registration Information Center with other states to automatically update voter registration information when residents move. Voters will continue to receive their mail-in ballot after moving unless they choose to “opt-out.”

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