Clerk Karen A. Yarbrough announced the kickoff of Early Voting in suburban Cook County Monday and said her office has received a record number of mail ballot requests for the upcoming April 6 municipal elections.
Early Voting began today at 53 locations across suburban Cook County. Voters can find their closest polling location at cookcountyclerk.com. The Clerk’s Office has received more than 55,000 requests for mail ballots, the highest amount ever received in a Consolidated Election.
The Administration of the Consolidated Election is an extremely complex process as there are more than 2,500 candidates running in a total of 1,025 races in municipalities, townships, school districts, park districts, library districts and fire protection districts. Due to the overlapping of so many electoral districts, the Clerk’s Office was required to produce more than 10,000 different ballot types.
Yarbrough also announced that the Clerk’s Office began working with the United States Postal Service this past weekend to begin sending out mail ballots to voters who requested them. Voters can expect to receive their mail ballots beginning later this week.
“The Consolidated Election does not receive the same level of participation as the Presidential or Gubernatorial elections,” said Yarbrough. “But these elections are extremely important because voters will be casting ballots for the local offices that really have the most impact on their daily lives. I strongly encourage all Cook County residents to participate.”
Yarbrough also made an important announcement for voters who will be voting by mail. There will not be drop boxes at suburban early voting locations because the Illinois Legislature did not extend the law passed last year in the wake of Covid-19 that gave Clerk’s offices the authority to place secure drop boxes at early voting locations.
As a result, voters who wish to drop their mail ballots at a secure drop box location must do so at one of the five suburban courthouse locations (Markham, Bridgeview, Maywood, Rolling Meadows, and Skokie) or at the Cook County administration building downtown at 69 W. Washington.
Key Dates and Links for the April 6, 2021 Consolidated Election
- March 22: First day of Expanded Early Voting
- April 1: Last day to request a Mail Ballot, including military and overseas voters
- April 5: Last day of Early Voting
- April 6: Election Day; Last day Mail Ballots can be postmarked
Check Your Voter Information, Election Day Polling Place or View a Sample Ballot: www.cookcountyclerk.com/
Early Voting Locations can be viewed at: www.cookcountyclerk.com/EV.
For voters registering and voting at Early Voting sites and on Election Day, you will need two pieces of ID: bit.ly/3f4PRjY.
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