Illinois voters may opt to vote-by-mail in all elections

[discocrisco01]

Source: Associated Press

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Illinois voters have the chance to sign up to send their ballots for November and spring elections by mail — forever.

Elections officials are sending applications for permanent permission to vote by mail to each of the state’s 8 million registered voters.

No one is obligated to sign up. But for as long as they stay at the same address, those who do will receive ballots they can complete at home and put in the mail for all future elections.

“The availability of a permanent vote-by-mail list should make this method of voting more convenient for voters,” said Matt Dietrich, Illinois State Board of Elections spokesman.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-covid-health-voting-illinois-564c8693a0c6047a9b1c51c3f418f334

[Wavelight]

1. Got mine last week

...and sent it off. Looking forward to avoiding polling stations in the future.

[Rebl2]

2. The only time

in Missouri we were allowed vote by mail was 2020 because of Covid. Only way we can vote early is if we are going to be out of town, working at election sites, I think if you are a judge (court). Another might be if you have surgery planned that day, but not positive about that.

[Lonestarblue]

3. The USPS needs to be required to date stamp all mail ballots.

With DeJoy still around to screw up postal deliveries, I will not trust mail ballots until I’m too old or infirm to go vote in person. One thing Texas does right (and there aren’t many anymore) is early voting. That makes it easier to choose a day and time to avoid longer lines.

[onetexan]

4. +1 -K&R!!

[live love laugh]

6. Even if Dejoy leaves USPS reliability for elections is compromised.

It’s clearly been exposed as a tool for disenfranchisement. Biden may oust Dejoy but Republicans will eventually install version 2.0.

[mucifer]

5. It's insanely hard not to vote in Illinois

Early voting vote by mail,Election Day state holiday.

They reaaaallly want us to vote. Yup we are blue.

[ShazzieB]

8. This is so true!

Much as I like the idea of automatically voting by mail every time, early voting is so easy that I may just stick with it.

Still going to watch the mail for this, though, just to see what it says.

[mopinko]

9. as long as they tighten up the rolls. and fix usps.

between the slop in the rolls, and how bad usps sucks these days, it worries me.
my son still gets a voter card, which gets delivered cuz i still live here, even tho he moved 8 yrs ago. he voted absentee form here in 16, but not again afaik.
and i have a rental that's been empty for a yr and a half and still getting mail left. i tell every carrier is see, but they always change. the mail piles up. there's no excuse.

[raising2moredems]

11. You can deal with this

When you go to vote, tell the Election Judge your son no longer lives at the address as well as date he moved (month/year is sufficient). I review the list of eligible votes in my precinct (judge) to ensure a) people I know died are not on the list or b) people I know have moved (like from my neighborhood).

You can also notify the Election office for your county. If you still continue to get a voter card after doing one/both of the above, Illinois Board of Elections is your next step.

As to your rental, I'm surprised. Visit your local Post Office and I suspect you can fill out a form to notify addressee is no longer there. I did this to forward a deceased relatives mail to another relative (medical bills, final utility bills).

[mopinko]

12. i should collect a stack and take it in.

some are for tenants that left 8 yrs ago, and some that never lived there that i know of, but the 1st flr had a big turnover for yrs.
service in my hood is berry, berry bad, tho. 1st half of this year, i was getting mail once a week.

[Novara]

10. We can do this in Michigan, however we have to request ballots every time

Kind of defeats the concept of being a permanent mail-in voter, but they send an application each time and it's easy enough to pop it in the mail. We can also track our returned ballots to see when they arrive.

California and other states automatically send you mail in ballots for everything if you choose. You always have the option of voting in person.

I love being able to vote from the comfort of my own home. I can open up my computer and do some real-time research if I'm not sure about a candidate or a ballot initiative.

In primaries I mail it back but in big elections I hand it to a clerk in my city's office.

[SouthernDem4ever]

13. Time to get rid of the current postmaster general

We don't need him screwing up another election cycle.

[mahina]

14. Two things that make me love our mai in voting now

1- the process moots the trademarked last minute dirty tricks seen here for years from some parties.
2- there were always some with the best intentions but things came up, too busy, lines too long, wirk ran late etc and those folks now always be able to get their ballot in

Turnout in this primary wasn’t higher than last time but it was pretty good. There are reasons to think it will help turnout.

Good luck Illinois!

[sybylla]

15. Nice! In Wisconsin we can do this for a 2-year election cycle.

No cause needed to request an absentee for every election in that 2-yr cycle. Hubs does it as he travels lots and before COVID was rarely in town for an election. Since COVID, he just does it anyway even though he is largely working from home.

[leftyladyfrommo]

16. They have that in washington State. My brother loves it. nt

[Cha]

17. I love it in Hawaii!