1. Apply to Vote By Mail

Vote By Mail applications for the March 2024 Primary Election will be available late this year.

All Vote By Mail ballots come with postage-paid Ballot Return Envelopes.

When you apply online to Vote By Mail, the Election Board will send you emails:
 - When your application is accepted,
 - When your ballot is mailed to you,
 - When the Election Board receives your Ballot Return Envelope, and
 - When your ballot has been processed and counted.

Prefer the ease and comfort of voting from home? Voters can now join a Permanent Vote By Mail Roster and have their ballots sent directly to their preferred address ahead of every election. This form must be returned no later than 5 days prior to any election by personal delivery or mailing it to: Chicago Board of Elections, 69 W. Washington St. #800, Chicago, IL, 60602. Click here to download the form for the Permanent Vote By Mail Roster.

2. Mark Your Ballot 
When you receive your Vote By Mail ballot, follow all instructions that come with your ballot and be sure to vote in secret.

NOTE: When marking your ballot, use a felt-tip pen. Do NOT use a red pen, because red ink cannot be read by the ballot scanners.

3. Return Your Ballot 
The signed and sealed Ballot Return Envelope may be returned:
  - through the U.S. Postal Service or a licensed courier, or
  - in a Secured Drop Box at any Chicago Early Voting location before Election Day, or
  - by personal delivery to the Election Board at 69 W. Washington, Sixth Floor
Once a mail ballot has been returned to the Board, it cannot be retrieved or withdrawn. The same voter cannot vote in person in the polling place on Election Day unless he or she brings the mail ballot (or a portion of it) to the election judges OR completes an affidavit stating the mail ballot was never received by the voter or that it was received and lost.

Any Vote By Mail Ballot Return Envelope that is mailed, postmarked or certified on or before Election Day may be counted if it arrives within 14 days of Election Day.

NOTE: Any mail ballot that is postmarked April 5, 2023 or later cannot be counted, by law. If a ballot envelope is placed in a US Postal Service box on or near Election Day, that envelope may be postmarked late and may not be eligible to be counted.

If you change your mind and want to vote in person
Voters may take the Vote By Mail ballot to any early voting site or their Election Day precinct polling place, surrender the ballot, and then vote on a new ballot. 

NOTE: Early Voting sites will have drop boxes, but precinct polling places will not.

Problems and solutions
If you: (a) could not apply on time, or (b) do not receive your ballot, or (c) lose your ballot or lose your Ballot Return Envelope, or (d) cannot get your Ballot Return Envelope in the mail by Election Day:
 - Call 312-269-7967 on or before March 30, 2023 to alert us that you have not received your ballot, or
  - Use Early Voting, or
 - Cancel your mail ballot and receive and cast an Election Day ballot at the polling place assigned to your precinct on April 4, 2023 or at any Early Voting site open as a vote center on Election Day. If the voter has the mail ballot, that ballot should be surrendered to the election judges. 

Q: When are the votes from Vote By Mail ballots and Early Voting ballots reported?
A: On Election Night on April 4, the Election Board will report unofficial results that include:
 - Votes from all ballots from Vote By Mail that were received and approved on or before the morning of April 3.
 - Votes from all Election Day ballots cast in the precincts.
 - Votes from all Early Voting sites open as vote centers on Election Day.
Then, later-arriving Vote By Mail ballots (those that arrive and are approved the afternoon of April 4 or later), in addition to provisional ballots, will continue to be processed and added to the counts. Under a long-standing state law, election counts are not final and official until at least 14 days after Election Day to allow for all late-arriving Vote By Mail Ballots and all eligible provisional ballots to be included in the counts.

Military/Civilian Overseas Voters
 Click here for more information on voting for members of the armed services and civilians living overseas. 

Voting By Mail for Physical Disability
Certain voters may also qualify for special additional Vote By Mail privileges as explained below.

 Five-Year DVI Card 

A voter with a permanent physical disability or a qualified nursing home resident may request a Disabled Voter's Identification Card (DVI), which is valid for all elections during a five-year period. The voter is automatically sent a Vote By Mail application by the Board prior to each election. The voter must complete the DVI application and return it to the Board in order to receive a mail ballot.

 Residents of Licensed Nursing Homes Voters residing in licensed nursing homes will be offered the ability to Vote By Mail. Residents who are registered voters and who submit a Vote By Mail ballot application by the Thursday before the election are allowed to vote. For complete information on nursing home voting procedures, contact the Board at 312-269-7865.

 Hospitalized Voters
A registered voter who is hospitalized not more than 14 days before an election may use this form to request that a Vote By Mail ballot be delivered in person to him or her in the hospital. An affidavit must be completed by the voter, his or her attending physician, and the relative (or registered voter of the same precinct) who delivers the Vote By Mail ballot to the hospital. Contact the Vote By Mail Department at 312-269-7967 for complete details on these procedures.   

 Abuse of Vote By Mail
It is a felony in Illinois to vote more than once in the same election or to attempt to vote more than once in the same election.

Falsifying Eligibility for Vote By Mail Ballots, Intimidation/Interference
Knowingly submitting false statements concerning identity or eligibility to Vote By Mail may be prosecuted under Illinois law (10 ILCS 5/29-10), a Class 3 felony. Any person who intimidates or unduly influences another person to cast a Vote By Mail ballot in a manner inconsistent with the voter's intent or who marks or tampers with a Vote By Mail ballot of another person shall be guilty of a Class 4 felony.

NOTE: A physically incapacitated voter is entitled to assistance if that voter requests the assistance.

Voters are forbidden by law from using multiple voting systems (any combination of voting on Election Day, Early Voting and/or Vote By Mail) to change or undo a ballot for any reason, or to vote more than once. Attempting to vote more than once is a felony.