Read the F*ing directions
for

Are registered to vote by midnight on October 6th.

Submit a request for an absentee ballot and it is RECEIVED by October 29th.

Contact your local election authority for information about accessible voting for folks with disabilities (or here if you’re in Chicago)

Click here for information on your eligibility if you have a criminal conviction — click on “guide for voters with past convictions or awaiting trial”.

Active duty military, military family member, or living overseas? You have additional voting options! Visit FVAP.GOV for details specific to your situation.

Make sure you’re registered to vote by midnight on October 6th. Illinois has same-day registration if you miss this deadline, but you’ll need to vote in person.

Your request for an absentee ballot must be RECEIVED by October 29th (but earlier is better! We recommend applying at least two weeks before Election Day). Make sure to send it to the local elections office for where you live NOT the state elections board.

Exceptions for medical emergencies: if you’re hospitalized or admitted to a nursing home/rehab center within two weeks of the election, you can designate any registered voter to bring your ballot to you and deliver it back. Contact your local elections office if you need to use this option, they’ll give you all the details.

Return your ballot by November 3rd. As long as it is postmarked or placed in a dropbox by 7pm on Election Day, you’re good to go. If postmarked by Election Day, ballots received up to 14 days after the election will be counted.

This is important: USPS recently changed its policies and won’t always postmark mail the same day it’s picked up from a mailbox — or even the day after. To guarantee a same-day postmark, you’ll need to go to a post office and ask for a manual postmark. All the more reason to mail things early!

Put your ballot inside the return envelope provided.

Sign the envelope where indicated.

If you need someone to drop the ballot off for you, fill out the section on the return envelope that gives that person permission to do so. The person who is dropping it off for you also needs to sign this section where indicated.

Seal it all up!

Put postage on it - this varies by county so just be safe and stick 2 stamps on it.

Ballots can be dropped off directly with your county clerk. Click here to find your local jurisdiction and the most convenient drop off location for you. You can pop your ballot in the mail as long as it’s postmarked by Election Day…but why wait? ESPECIALLY if you live in Chicago, apparently their mail is slower so get ‘em in early!

DO NOT take your ballot to your polling place unless you want to watch the poll workers destroy it so you can vote normally.