VOTER REGISTRATION DEADLINE

Registration is closed during the 27 days prior to an election. Individuals who miss the deadline may register or transfer their registration at the office of the election authority under the guidelines of grace period registration. Check these election registration deadlines.

QUALIFICATIONS

To register to vote in the state of Illinois an individual must meet the following qualifications
• Be a United States citizen
• Be at least 18 years old by election day
• Have lived in your election precinct at least 30 days prior to election day

OBTAINING A VOTER REGISTRATION FORM
Can register to vote in person or obtain a mail-in application from:
• County election office (contact information).
• Board of Election's office
• City and village offices
• Township offices
• Precinct Committeemen
• Select schools
• Select public libraries
• Select labor groups
• Select civic groups
• Select corporations
• Military recruitment offices

 When applying for services at the following:
• Driver's License Facilities
• Department of Health care and Family Services
• Department of Employment Security

Obtain an application for voter registration online:
English
Spanish

ILLINOIS ABSENTEE BALLOTS

Who Can Absentee Vote in Illinois?

Voters who meet one of the following criteria may vote by absentee ballot:
• Registered voters expecting to be absent from their county of residence on Election Day.
• Registered voters appointed to be judges of election in a precinct different from where they reside.
• Registered voters unable to be present at the polls because of a physical incapacity.
• Registered voters observing a religious holiday and unable to be present at the polls because of the tenets of their religion.
• Registered voters who because of election duties in the office of a state's attorney, county clerk, a board of election commissioners or State Board of Elections will be unable to be present at the polls.
• Registered voters who are serving as sequestered jurors on a State or Federal jury only.
• Registered or non-registered members of the United States Armed Forces while on active duty, and members of the Merchant Marines, as well as their spouses and dependents who expect to be absent from their county of residence on Election Day.
• Registered or non-registered members of religious groups, welfare agencies as well as their spouses and dependents who are officially attached to or assisting members of the Armed Forces who expect to be absent from the county in which they reside on election day.
• State and Federal employees who had a voting residence in the precinct at the time they entered employment, but who now reside elsewhere due to State or Federal employment.
• A registered citizen temporarily residing overseas may vote by absentee ballot.
• Any citizen residing outside of the country, not registered to vote but qualified to vote in a federal election, may vote by absentee ballot for federal offices only.

How Can I Acquire an Absentee Ballot?

Applications for absentee ballots are available, either by mail or in person, from your local elections office.

When the application is complete, it must either be mailed or delivered in person to your local elections office (contact information). If the application is mailed and it is properly completed, the election authority will mail an absentee ballot to the voter. If the application is returned in person or completed in the election authority's office, the voter may immediately vote his/her absentee ballot in the election authority's office.

Additional Information for Overseas Voters

More information on absentee voting procedures click here. 

How do I Return the Absentee Ballot and What is the Deadline?

Insert the ballot into the envelope provided, seal it, complete and sign the certification on the back and personally return it or mail it to your local elections office (contact information). (The absentee voter may authorize in writing a: spouse, parent, child, brother, sister, or licensed motor carrier, to deliver to the election authority the completed absentee ballot in sufficient time to be delivered to the polling place on Election Day.)


Early voting in the state of Illinois begins October 14 and ends October 30. Click here for polling locations.

Source of information:
State Board of Elections
1020 South Spring Street
Springfield, Illinois 62704
Phone: 217-782-4141
TDD: 217-782-1518

http://www.elections.state.il.us/VotingInformation/welcome.aspx