Ballot Drop Boxes Available In DuPage Co. For November Election

DUPAGE COUNTY, IL — DuPage County officials are planning to install ballot drop boxes throughout the county to aid voters in placing their ballots for the November election.

DuPage County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek said indoor ballot drop boxes will be available at all early voting and Election Day polling sites. There will also be an indoor drop box located at the main entrance of the Administration Building at 421 County Farm Rd., Wheaton Additionally, voters may drop off their ballots off at the County Clerk Election Division, which is located in the same building, Kaczmarek told Patch.

An outdoor drop box will be installed in the south parking lot of the DuPage Administration Building, 421 County Farm Rd. on Sept. 21.

Kaczmarek told Patch the drop boxes will be shut down at 7 p.m. on Election Day.

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."

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.

"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."

Kaczmarek told Patch, "Vote by mail is designed to work with USPS. We are depending on USPS to deliver ballots to homes."

Patch Editor Jason Addy contributed to this article.