Ballot Drop Boxes To Be Set Up In Kane Co. For November Election

KANE COUNTY, IL — Election officials are expected to install three drop boxes in Kane County for voters to submit their mail-in ballots for the Nov. 3 general election.

Kane County Clerk John Cunningham said there will be one box each in Aurora, Geneva and Elgin, according to a report by the Daily Herald. Cunningham’s office did not respond to Patch’s request for exact locations of the drop boxes.

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The action comes amid increased concerns about how the U.S. Postal Service will handle an expected record number of mail-in ballots due to the coronavirus pandemic. Operational changes at the USPS have reportedly led to widespread mail delays, the elimination of overtime pay for postal workers and the decommissioning of mail machines, among other issues.

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Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who was appointed by President Donald Trump in May, announced Aug. 18 he would suspend the changes until after Nov. 3 “to avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail."

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Speaking just before DeJoy’s announcement, Kane County-area U.S. Reps. Bill Foster, Lauren Underwood and Sean Casten slammed DeJoy’s changes and warned they could signal the end of the postal service.

Underwood (D-Naperville) said the changes “are simply unacceptable,” while Foster called them “disgraceful.”

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A fully functioning postal service is "vital" to the U.S. economy, and the "health and well-being of millions of Americans," Foster (D-Naperville) said at the news conference outside Aurora's Kenneth M. Christy Post Office.

"Millions of business, large and small," also rely on the postal service to deliver products and connect with customers, Foster said.

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"That's why it is disgraceful that President Trump and his political appointees have been deliberately trying to weaken and delay the USPS in the run-up to the national election," Foster said. "We will not stand by as they try to manipulate the Postal Service to suppress votes and to try to scare people out of exercising their right to participate in this election."

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