PEORIA,Ill. — Requests for mail-in ballots have been out several weeks now, and on Thursday, September 24, election officials will start mailing those ballots.
Peoria County Election Commission’s Thomas Bride said they’ve received around 26,000 requests for ballots so far.
“I think one of the things is we’re mailing so many out so early, that we’ll start to get those back, and we process them as they return. But, we always will get a big rush at the end,” Bride said.
Requests for mail-in ballots will be accepted through the Thursday before the election day (October 29).
Although ballots are processed as they come in, Bride said they can’t be tabulated until the polls are closed on election night.
Voters have three options for the upcoming election.
Bride said mail-in voting has always been strong in Peoria County, but it’s especially big this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In addition to mail-in ballots being sent out beginning September 24, early voting begins that day at the Peoria County Election Commission, located at 4422 N. Brandywine Drive in Peoria.
Early voting expands to multiple locations in Peoria County on Oct. 19, and in-person voting follows on Election Day (November 3) at the polls.
“Election night’s always been unofficial results. We don’t certify the election for at least two weeks, and we’re counting ballots most of the time for those whole two weeks,” Bride said.
Bride said all ballots postmarked through Election Day will be counted.
“We have to verify the signature within 48 hours of receiving the ballot. And, after the signature is declared good, we’ll actually process it, scan it and do everything we can with it except tabulate it,” Bride said.
If you are concerned about mailing in your ballot, there will be a drop box at the Election Commission office and at all early voting locations.
Bride said new this year, there’s also an app you can download from the Election Commission’s website to track your ballot.
Here’s the full interview with Bride.
The mail-in ballots are printed and ready to go in Tazewell County.
County Clerk John Ackerman estimates that his office has received over 11,000 requests for mail-in ballots.
“We’re probably somewhere closer to 12,000 or 13,000 at this point, based on the volume of what else is coming in. I think we’ll probably end up at the end of the election with vote-by-mail being less than or near 15,000,” Ackerman said.
Ackerman said he doesn’t forsee any problems with the U.S. Postal Service.
“There have been some duplicate requests for ballots, but no matter how many requests are turned in, only one is processed for each voter,” Ackerman said.
If you receive your mail-in ballot and know how you’re going to vote, send it in as soon as possible.
“Where we will run into problems, is if 11,000 people decide to wait until November 3rd, and put their ballot in the mail on November 3rd to us. Because, we won’t receive their ballot until after the election,” Ackerman said.
Early voting at the Tazewell County Clerk’s Office, located at 11 S. 4th Street, Suite 203 in Pekin, begins Thursday, Sept. 24, the same day mail-in ballots go out.
Tazewell County polls will also be open for voters on Election Day, November 3.
Here’s the full interview with Ackerman.
For any questions about voting in Tazewell County, click HERE.
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