Early voting starts Thursday throughout much of Illinois

Election Day is still 40 days away, but election season kicks off Thursday throughout much of Illinois.

That’s when in-person early voting begins in many parts of the state, including the collar counties of DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will. Thursday also marks the first day for local election authorities in the state to mail ballots to registered voters.

Early voting, however, does not start yet in Chicago or suburban Cook County. Chicago voters have to wait until Oct. 3 to cast early ballots in person, and suburban Cook County residents will be able to vote early in person beginning Oct. 9.

In DuPage County, in-person early voting will be available from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to noon on Saturdays through Oct. 19 at the following locations:

• Addison Township Office, 401 N. Addison Road, Addison
• Bartlett Community Center, 700 S. Bartlett Road, Bartlett
• Downers Grove Recreation Center, 4500 Belmont Road, Downers Grove
• DuPage Event Center and Fairgrounds, 2015 Manchester Road, Wheaton
• Naperville Municipal Center, 400 S. Eagle St., Naperville

Voters in Kane County can cast early ballots from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays at the county clerk’s office, 719 S. Batavia Ave., Building B, Geneva; or the clerk’s Aurora satellite office at 5 E. Downer Place, Suite F.

In Lake County, early voting takes place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the lobby of the main courthouse, 18 N. County St., Waukegan.

Early voting in McHenry County takes place from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays at the county election center, 410 S. Eastwood Drive, Woodstock. The polls will be closed Oct. 14 in honor of Columbus Day and Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

In Will County, early voting is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays at the Will County clerk’s office, 302 N. Chicago St., Joliet.

Additional in-person early voting locations will open in each county beginning Oct. 21.

Additional information and a list of early voting locations is available at https://www.elections.il.gov/VotingAndRegistrationSystems/EarlyVotingLocationsSearch.aspx.

Two years ago, nearly 40% of Illinois ballots were cast ahead of the November general election, according to the Illinois State Board of Elections.

That included about 879,000 early votes at polling locations and 737,000 mail ballots, according to election board data.

This year, in addition to the presidential election between Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican former President Donald Trump, the balloting that concludes Nov. 5 includes races for all 17 of Illinois’ congressional seats, 118 seats in the Illinois House and 24 of 59 seats in the Illinois Senate.

There are no races this year for either of the state’s U.S. Senate seats or any statewide offices, but various county offices and judicial seats also will appear on ballots across Illinois.

Voters statewide also will see three nonbinding referendum questions at the top of the ballot, all placed there by the Democratic-controlled state legislature.

The first asks if any candidate appearing on an Illinois ballot should “be subject to civil penalties if the candidate interferes or attempts to interfere with an election worker’s official duties.”

The second asks if the Illinois Constitution should be amended to create an additional 3% tax on income above $1 million “for the purpose of dedicating funds raised to property tax relief.”

That question, which is only advisory, comes four years after voters overwhelmingly rejected an amendment to the state constitution that would have created a graduated-rate income tax to replace the current flat tax. The proposal was a signature initiative of Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker’s first term.

The final statewide question asks: “Should all medically appropriate assisted reproductive treatments, including, but not limited to, in vitro fertilization, be covered by any health insurance plan in Illinois that provides coverage for pregnancy benefits, without limitation on the number of treatments?”

Illinois Democrats this year opted not to pursue an amendment referendum that could have enshrined abortion rights, which already are protected under state law, in the Illinois Constitution. But the party still hopes the backlash over the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade will drive voters to the polls.

By placing three statewide questions on the ballot, the maximum allowed under Illinois law, state lawmakers headed off an effort by conservative groups to place an advisory question on the ballot asking if written consent from a minor’s parent or guardian should be required before anyone provides a minor any nonemergency gender modification procedure.