Was Your Mail-In Ballot Counted In Illinois? Here's How To Check

ILLINOIS — Did you mail your ballot or put in a secure drop box? If so, are you wondering what happened to it and whether it will really be counted. Unfortunately, Illinois doesn't have a universal way to keep track of ballots once they're in the mail, but your local election authority probably does. You can look up your election authority on the Illinois State Board of Elections website.

If your election authority has an online tracker, just enter your information and you should be able to check your ballot status in just a few clicks. If they don't have an online tool, give them a call instead.

Here are some county-level ballot trackers to get you started:

• City of Chicago Voter Information
• (Suburban) Cook County Voter Information
• DuPage County ballottrax
• Kane County ballottrax
• Kendall County vote-by-mail ballot receipt
• Lake County Voter Power page
• McHenry County ballottrax
• Will County ballot tracker

In Illinois, as long as your mail-in ballot is postmarked by Election Day, it will be counted as long as it arrives within two weeks of Election Day. If your ballot arrives after Nov. 17, however, it won't be counted, since that's when local election authorities begin transmitting their official tallies to the state.

If your ballot has been accepted, you're good to go.

However, if your ballot is rejected, your local election authority will notify you by mail or email within two days and provide an explanation of why your ballot was rejected. If your signature didn't match the signature in your voter file — one of the most common reasons — you can submit a statement that it was indeed your signature, and your ballot will still be counted as long as the election authority receives your statement by Nov. 17. Alternatively, if the ballot was rejected because the envelope was opened, you can submit another ballot in person on Election Day or by mail. The new mail-in ballot must still be postmarked by Election Day and received by Nov. 17.

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