CHICAGO — Officials have urged Chicagoans to return their mail-in ballots as soon as possible before Tuesday’s election — but some people still haven’t gotten their ballots.
If that’s you, no worries: You can still cast your ballot in person.
More than 200,400 Chicagoans applied to vote by mail in the Tuesday runoff election, and about 95,000 have returned their ballots as of Sunday night, according to the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners.
Here’s what to know:
How To Vote If Your Mail-In Ballot Didn’t Arrive
If your mail-in ballot still hasn’t arrived, you can vote at an early voting site or vote at your precinct polling place on Election Day.
Click here for information about early voting and a list of the sites.
Click here to find your Election Day precinct polling place.
If you didn’t get your ballot, you’ll still be able to vote in person.
What To Do If You Now Want To Vote In Person
If you applied to vote by mail, you can still vote in person — whether or not you received your vote-by-mail ballot.
Simply head to an early voting site or your precinct polling place on Election Day. If you have your ballot, you should surrender it to officials at the polling place you go to, according to the elections board. If you don’t have it, it’s OK; you’ll still be able to vote in person.
How To Return Your Mail-In Ballot
Mail-in ballots will be counted as long as they’re postmarked by Tuesday.
They can be returned via the mail, through secure drop boxes as the city’s early voting sites (click here for their addresses) or delivered personally to the election board or through a licensed service such as FedEX, UPS or DHL.
What’s The Status Of My Mail-In Ballot?
The elections board should have emailed when your vote-by-mail application was accepted and your ballot was mailed out to you.
The elections board will also email you when it receives your vote-by-mail ballot and when it is processed and counted.
Signing Up To Vote By Mail Permanently
Chicagoans can sign up for the Permanent Vote By Mail Roster so they don’t have to apply to vote by mail in each upcoming election. Once you’re signed up, the elections board will simply send your mail-in ballot to you for each election — though you’ll still be able to opt to vote in person if you’d prefer.
Click here to download the form to join the Permanent Vote By Mail Roster.
The form must be mailed to the Chicago Board of Elections, 69 W. Washington St., No. 800, Chicago, IL 60602.