Early voting begins for some Illinois counties; DuPage County delayed to next week
Some polls opened up for early voting on Thursday, with less than six weeks to go until primary day in Illinois.
The actual date of the primary election in Illinois is March 17. But if work, school, doctor's appointments, or other responsibilities prevent one from casting a ballot that day, early voting is an alternative.
DuPage County was to open up the polls at five locations beginning at 8 a.m. However, "due to unresolved candidate objections currently pending before the Appellate Court," the start of early voting and vote by mail has been delayed for "early next week."
The McHenry County Election Center, at 410 S. Eastwood Dr. in Woodstock, will fire up its machines for residents of that county at 8:30 a.m.
Also at 8:30 a.m., the Will County Clerk's office, at 302 N. Chicago St. in Joliet, and the Kankakee County Clerk's office, at 189 E. Court St. in Kankakee, begin early voting.
Ballots can be cast at the Lake County Courthouse, at 18 N. County St. in Waukegan, starting at 9 a.m.
Primaries do not always see the best voter turnout, but this election includes some key races that will affect politics across the entire state. Voters will determine who runs on the Democratic and Republican tickets for Illinois governor, and the seat of retiring U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) is also up for grabs.
A total of 14 Democratic candidates are running for the nomination for Durbin's seat, and eight on the Republican side.
Early voting is not yet open for Chicago and suburban Cook County residents.
Early voting begins Thursday, Feb. 12, for city residents. The downtown supersite has moved to a new location at 137 S. State St.
Suburban Cook County early voting doesn't start until March 2. Click here to look up the early voting site near you.
For those who prefer to vote by mail, the United States Postal Service now says it cannot guarantee that ballots will be postmarked the same day they are sent. This means ballots mailed on the primary day of March 17 may not count for this election.
USPS suggests returning vote-by-mail ballots by March 10 to be safe.
