|
Illinois State Board of Elections spokesman Matt Dietrich said
initial early voting will happen at local county clerk’s offices
starting Thursday. That’s the first phase of early voting.
“Really, it kicks into high gear two weeks beore the election on
Oct. 24 this year,” Dietrich told The Center Square. “That’s
when you’ll see extended hours, weekend hours in a lot of
jurisdictions. They’ll offer early voting in places other than
the county clerk’s office.”
Illinois also has expanded vote-by-mail where voters can request
a ballot to fill out at home and send in. Also Thursday, local
elections officials will send out those vote-by-mail ballots.
Dietrich said that doesn’t preclude a voter from changing their
mind to vote in person, rather than by mail.
“If that happens, what you would want to do is take your
vote-by-mail ballot, take it to your polling place or your early
voting location and surrender it to an election judge. They’ll
spoil that ballot,” Dietrich said. “They’ll give you a regular
in-person ballot and you can vote in person.”
Dietrich said voters cannot vote in person and then send in a
vote-by-mail ballot.
“That can be a big problem, even if it’s inadvertent,” Dietrich
said.
On the ballot are local, county, statehouse and congressional
elections as well as statewide elections for U.S. Senate,
Illinois constitutional officers like governor and a proposed
constitutional amendment.
Greg Bishop reports on Illinois government and
other issues for The Center Square. Bishop has years of
award-winning broadcast experience and hosts the WMAY Morning
Newsfeed out of Springfield.
|
|
