Voting In Illinois

To be eligible to vote in Illinois, you must be:

• A U.S. citizen
• At least 18 years of age by Election Day
• Have been a resident of the precinct at least 30 days prior to Election Day

Two forms of identification are required when registering to vote, one that shows your current residential address. If you register by mail, you must vote in person the first time you vote.

Registration is open year round except:

• During the 27 day period just prior to an election
• During the 2 days after such election (1 day after in Chicago)

As of February 2006, grace period registration is available in Illinois. The “grace period” for registering to vote is the 27th to the 14th day prior to the election. After the normal registration period closes, grace period registration allows you to register in person at the office of your election authority. However, people who take advantage of the late registration opportunity are limited in the way they can vote. If you register to vote during this two-week period you must vote in the office of the election authority or vote absentee by mail. There are 110 election authorities in Illinois, most of them county clerks and the others are boards established by larger cities. The people who register during the “grace period” do not vote at their polling place on Election Day, nor are they allowed to vote under the new Illinois law that establishes early voting centers.

Under federal law, citizens may apply to register to vote by mailing in an a voter registration application. The applications are available at some public and private facilities where you live. Applications may also be downloaded from the Illinois State Board of Elections website.

When you register by mail your form must be postmarked prior to the close of registration. Please note that if you register by mail, with the exception of those disabled or in the military, you must vote in person at the polling place or by in-person absentee voting the first time you vote.

To verify your voter registration status, please contact your elections office or board of elections for your county, city or state.

An election judge will issue you a provisional ballot at your polling place if:

• Your name does not appear on the lists of registered voters for the precinct
• Your voting status has been challenged by an election judge, poll watcher or another voter and a majority of election judges agree
• A court order is issued instructing your polling place to remain open after 7:00 pm (if this occurs everyone voting after 7:00 pm must cast a provisional ballot)
• You are required to show identification because you registered by mail, but you did not bring ID to the polling place on Election Day or early voting site. In this instance you must supply the election authority with a copy of acceptable identification by 7:00 pm the Thursday after Election Day.

By law, you must vote in your assigned precinct for all votes on your provisional ballot to count.

Provisional ballots are counted after Election Day. The election authority receives all provisional ballots and determines the registration status for each provisional voter within two weeks after the election. If it is determined that you are registered and eligible to vote, your vote will be counted. If you are not registered, your vote will not be counted, but the information you supplied on the affidavit form will serve as a registration application for the next election.

To find out if your vote was counted, please use your state's provisional ballot tool.