You now can apply NOW for a mail-in ballot!

Everyone in Illinois who voted in an election since November 2018 will be mailed an application for a mail-in ballot, thanks to Sen. Julie Morrison's Virus Free Voting legislation, which was signed June 16th by Gov. Pritzker. And new voters who have registered since the 2020 Primary also will be sent an application for a ballot. The legislation also declares Election Day, Nov. 3, 2020, a state holiday. The legislation affects the 2020 General Election only.

To make sure you get an application for a mail-in ballot, apply online NOW at the Cook County Clerk's office. 

DOES VOTING BY MAIL INCREASE VOTE FRAUD?

No. In a recent report titled “The False Narrative of Vote-by-Mail Fraud,” the well-respected Brennan Center for Justice rebutted claims that mail voting is subject to abuse. “Despite [the] dramatic increase in mail voting over time, fraud rates remain infinitesimally small. None of the five states that hold their elections primarily by mail has had any voter fraud scandals since making that change.” The New York Times editorial board said “states that use vote-by-mail have encountered essentially zero fraud.”

The Brennan Center report suggested seven tools to guard against mail vote fraud. Illinois already utilizes several of those tools including verifying the voter’s signatures, bar-coding ballots, tracing mail ballots through email, and harsh penalties for vote fraud. Several others can and should be adopted.

Virtually all the opposition to increased mail voting comes from the right-wing Heritage Foundation and President Trump. FactCheck.org looked at Trump’s claims and found them false:

“There is no evidence to back up Trump’s blanket claim that ‘mailed ballots are corrupt.’ Voting experts say the president is exaggerating when he says mail ballots are ‘fraudulent in many cases.’”

The Heritage Foundation’s database shows 16 convictions for mail ballot fraud in Illinois over a 14-year period, an average of about one per year.