2022 Midterm Elections: When, How To Get Absentee Ballots In Illinois

ILLINOIS — Voters in a handful of states can request an absentee ballot now as 2022 midterm election campaigns enter the final stretch. Illinois will start mailing absentee ballots for the Nov. 8 general election around Sept. 29.

Voters should be aware the procedure to get a mail-in ballot they followed in the 2020 general election may not be the same now. Multiple states changed their election laws after the COVID-19 pandemic upended voting patterns in the presidential election, with 69 percent of Americans casting ballots nontraditionally, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

Sponsors of new state laws on absentee voting say the changes improve election security, while critics say they make it harder for people to vote.

In Illinois, deadlines to request an absentee ballot are as follows:

• In person: must be received by 1 day before Election Day (Nov. 7)
• By mail: must be received by 5 days before Election Day (Nov. 3)
• Online: must be received by 5 days before Election Day (Nov. 3)

Ballots must be postmarked by Election Day, Nov. 8, and must be received by 14 days after Election Day, or Nov. 22.

In the 2020 presidential election, 43 percent of voters cast absentee ballots by mail and 26 percent voted in person before Election Day, according to the Census Bureau. Four years earlier, 21 percent of voters mailed in their ballots and 19 percent voted in person before Election Day.

Among groups seeing increases in absentee or early voting in 2020 were voters over 65, those with a bachelor’s degree, women, and Asian and Hispanic voters, according to the Census Bureau.

In Illinois, a significant portion of voters — between 61.8 and 82.8 percent — used "nontraditional" voting methods in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic hit. That included those who voted early and/or by absentee ballots.

The increase in those using nontraditional voting methods in Illinois represents a change of about 27 percent to 34 percentage points compared to the 2016 election.

Illinois is among 46 states that offer early in-person voting, including Sunday voting, although it's up to county clerks who can choose or decline to be open on Sundays.

In Illinois, early voting begins Sept. 29 at temporary early voting locations, including municipal and township clerk's offices and county offices. Permanent early voting locations must remain open starting Oct. 24. Early voting ends Nov. 7.

Absentee ballot requests are already underway in several states, including Illinois, where the first day to request an absentee ballot was Aug. 10.

Once the applications are verified, election officials begin mailing them during the times specified in state laws, according to information gathered by the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Those officials will continue to verify and mail out absentee ballot requests for either a designated period or right up to Election Day. The NCSL said few states don’t specify when they start accepting absentee ballots, but in general:

• Ten states — Arkansas, Delaware, Kentucky, Minnesota, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, West Virginia and Wisconsin — begin mailing ballots to voters more than 45 days before Election Day.
• Eleven states — Alabama, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia and Wyoming — begin mailing ballots to voters 45 days before the election.
• Fourteen states — Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, South Carolina and Vermont — begin mailing ballots to voters 30-45 days before the election.
• Fourteen states — Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, Utah and Washington — begin mailing ballots to voters fewer than 30 days before the election.
• Eight states — California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Vermont and Washington — automatically mail absentee ballots to all voters.