Bill authorizing mail-in voting, ballot drop boxes goes to Pritzker

A bill that would allow use of ballot drop boxes, curbside voting and the acceptance of ballots regardless of insufficient postage was passed by the Illinois Senate and will go to Gov. J.B Pritzker's desk.

With days to go before the April 6 election, the provisions in the law will go into effect immediately if Pritzker signs the bill.

State Sen. Julie Morrison, a Democrat from Deerfield, brought the legislation, House Bill 1871, to the Senate floor with support from the Illinois Association of County Clerks and Recorders. The legislation passed in the Senate 48-7, with all seven no votes coming from Senate Republicans who did not give their reasons. Senate Minority Leader Dan McConchie of Hawthorn Woods voted present.

The legislation would allow local election authorities to establish curbside voting during early voting periods and on Election Day, with election judges from opposite parties working in pairs to collect ballots. The legislation also would establish that all ballot drop-boxes are to be locked and opened only by election authorities.

The law specifically authorizing ballot drop boxes and curbside voting for the 2020 election expired on Jan. 1. Some election authorities, including in Cook County, have continued to use drop boxes for the February primary election and the upcoming April 6 election.

Lake County Clerk Robin O'Connor supports the legislation, saying the vote-by-mail provisions are "very safe and very secure."

O'Connor said requests to vote by mail have doubled since the last local election in 2019, from 7,520 to 14,338. Given that increase, she said the drop-boxes and curbside voting provisions make sense in allowing for people to vote how they wish.

"If the vote by mail ballots are increasing, I am looking at that as people having more trust in the system being safe and secure," O'Connor said. "The early voting system and voting on the day are your other two options, so what we are doing is providing options for individuals to vote."

Under the bill, any mail-in ballot delivered to an election authority by the post office would have a guarantee of being accepted, even if it has insufficient postage. The election authority would make up the cost of the postage.

Morrison said she has heard of no issues from election authorities with the mail-in provisions in this legislation.

"It doesn't seem to be a problem for anybody and we did this in 2020 where an incredible number of vote-by-mail ballots were cast, and in fact about one-third of the state's ballots were vote by mail, and many of those came into drop boxes," Morrison said.

The legislation fell along party lines when it passed through the House on March 18, with 70 Democrats voting yes and 41 Republicans voting no.