Elections officers across Illinois are concerned delays in mail delivery could disrupt mail-in voting in upcoming elections.
Tazewell County Clerk John Ackerman says the changes in U.S. Postal Service operations mean it may take longer for a vote-by-mail ballot to get from the mailbox to the election center for tabulation.
“The way it was, you could put your ballot in the mailbox on Election Day, it will be postmarked Election Day, and thus we will count it. That no longer is the standard,” Ackerman said Thursday during the Illinois Association of County Clerks and Recorders Winter Conference held at the Par-A-Dice Hotel in East Peoria.
“These changes will detrimentally impact not only our relationship, but the trust that the voters have in our offices,” said Lake County Clerk Anthony Vega, who was among about 25 election officials from around Illinois at the news conference. “This does not change our commitment in empowering our voters with the information so that they can feel confident in casting their ballot.”
Three noteworthy policy changes that took effect Jan. 1 will impact delivery of vote-by-mail ballots.
While mail-in ballots previously were fast-tracked to assure timely arrival, that special treatment will no longer occur. Additionally, postmarks are now applied only after mail goes through a distribution center, and trips from post offices to distribution centers are reduced to once daily.
“That standard of when do you need to have your vote-by-mail ballot in will vary from county to county, from what part of the state that you’re in, and how quickly that distribution center, how accurately that distribution center is working,” said Ackerman, noting his office is recommending mail voters send in ballots a week before election day.
McLean County Clerk Kathy Michael oversees elections in McLean County, outside of Bloomington. She also recommends anyone voting by mail to send in their ballots one week early.
“If there’s any concern at all and you love vote-by-mail, don’t be discouraged and not do it and not vote. That’s the biggest thing,” said Michael, who has served as clerk since 2010.
Michael said if you think your ballot may not be delivered in time, take it directly to the post office and get it postmarked, or take it directly to your election office.
McLean County Director of Elections Mark Senger said voters or election offices can track their mail-in ballots through the postal service.
“We’re able to track the ballot but once the ballot is on its way back, that’s where we are the most concerned,” Senger said. “We can call the post office and start looking into it.”
Michael added voters can have their ballot canceled if they wish to vote on Election Day to ensure their vote is counted.
“You gotta believe us on that,” Michael said.
Ackerman said that while these USPS service changes have been under consideration for many years, the clerks were given very short notice before the policy went into effect.
“We received the call that this was done officially, the first time we’d been approached by the postal service was December the 31st at 2 p.m.,” he said. “That’s kind of late in the game to come talk to us, and I guess that was a little bit of a disappointment.”
Illinois law governing vote-by-mail has not changed; any ballot received up to 14 days after the election will be counted — as long as it is postmarked no later than Election Day. Since the USPS changes mean there’s no guarantee a postmark will be applied on the same day, election officials are stressing the need to send in ballots sooner.
“It’s adding an additional 24 to 48 hours to receive that postmark, and that’s what we want to help educate our vote-by-mail voters on,” said Elizabeth Gannon, executive director of the Peoria County Election Commission. “You need to ensure that you are giving at least two to three additional days to receive that postmark.”
Ackerman noted that another delay could arise from where a certain area’s distribution center is located, pointing out that Peoria’s distribution center is in Peoria while East Peoria mail goes through the Champaign distribution center.
“It was much, much easier when our local post offices, when they picked it up, was postmarking it that they had received it that day,” said Ackerman. “That made it extremely crystal clear to everybody of when that ballot should be counted.”
The clerks who sought to reassure that election integrity will be preserved. But the potential vote-by-mail delays could result in more recounts in close elections.
“I think that does open us up to risk, and it’s undue risk,” said Ackerman. “What’s going to come of a race that ends up being one vote? And they ask a voter, and ‘I made sure my vote was in. Why did you reject my vote?’ It’s throwing the weight back on us, and I do think that that is unfair.”
News Director Eric Stock contributed to this report.
