FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Suburban Cook County residents who will be out of town or cannot make it to their polling places during the March 21 primary election can now request to vote a mail-in absentee ballot, Cook County Clerk David Orr announced.
To request a mail-in absentee ballot application, qualified registered voters can:
• Print an application from the Clerk’s election website – www.voterinfonet.com
• Call the Clerk’s office at (312) 603-0906 to have an application mailed to you.
• Write or visit the Clerk’s office, 69 W. Washington St., Room 500, Chicago, IL 60602.
Prospective absentee voters must return their completed absentee applications to the Clerk’s downtown Chicago office no later than Thursday, March 16.
Under state law, registered voters may qualify to cast an absentee ballot only if they cannot make it to their polling place on Election Day. Among the most common reasons to vote absentee is that you will be out of the county or you are physically incapacitated. Other voters who may vote absentee are those who are serving on a jury, working as a poll worker (election judge) or observing a religious holiday on Election Day.
Orr noted that the primary election will mark the first time Illinois voters will have the option of taking part in the state’s new early voting program. Unlike absentee voting, early voting allows voters to vote before the election without having to provide a reason or excuse. All early voters must vote in person at a designated early voting site.
In suburban Cook County, early voting will take place Feb. 27 to March 16 at local village and township halls. Suburban voters can also vote early at the Clerk’s downtown Chicago office. Voters should call their local village or township hall or visit www.voterinfonet.com for hours and more details.
Individuals who registered to vote using a mail-in registration form are not eligible to vote absentee by mail the first time they vote. Those voters must vote in person at an early voting/in-person absentee site or at the polls on Election Day.
Local village and township halls will conduct in-person absentee voting from Feb. 27 to March 20.
Orr reminds voters that Illinois law prohibits anyone except the voter, a family member or a bonded messenger service from handling, mailing or delivering a completed absentee ballot. In addition, making a false statement to obtain an absentee ballot is considered vote fraud and is punishable by up to five years in prison. Call (312) 603-0906 to report vote fraud.
For more information about absentee voting, call (312) 603-0906, or visit www.voterinfonet.com.