Kendall County Clerk to send mail-in ballot applications for Nov. 8 election

YORKVILLE – The primary election is barely over but Kendall County Clerk Debbie Gillette is already preparing for the Nov. 8 general election.

There are 83,444 registered voters in Kendall County and each one will receive a letter and two mail-in ballot application forms from the clerk’s office.

The mailings, expected to be sent out the week of Aug. 15, are now required under state law, Gillette told the Kendall County Board at its July 19 regular meeting.

Voters who want to choose the increasingly popular option of voting by mail will be presented with two alternatives.

One is a mail-in ballot application for the coming Nov. 8 general election alone. The other is an application for a permanent vote-by-mail status.

Voters selecting the permanent option will not need to apply for a mail-in ballot in future elections, but will need to make a choice as to a political party designation.

Those who select the Democratic Party, the Republican Party or the local Kendall County Party will receive the appropriate ballot for primary elections, when voters from those political parties select their nominees for general election contests.

Voters may opt for a non-partisan ballot, which will include only referendum questions in primary elections, or a ballot only for elections that do not require a party designation, meaning general and consolidated elections.

Mail-in ballots must be postmarked no later than Election Day. Those ballots received by the clerk’s office after the election are considered provisional. Ballot totals are made final 14 days after the election.

Preparing and printing the mailings will cost about $29,000, on top of a bulk postage rate of 32 cents each, or roughy $27,000. The funds are included in the clerk’s office budget, Gillette said.

While the mailing to be sent by the clerk’s office is straightforward and the applications include a voter identification number, a complication has entered the picture.

The Voter Participation Center, a Springfield-based non-partisan, non-profit public interest group is also sending out mail-in voting applications and many have already been filled out and forwarded to the Kendall County Clerk’s office.

“It’s going to confuse a lot of voters,” Gillette said.

Voters will be better off using the form they will receive from the clerk’s office, Gillette said. The Voter Participation Center application lacks the voter’s identification number and other information that is needed by the clerk’s office.

“We prefer that voters use our application,” Gillette said.

Early voting at the clerk’s office and other locations in the county for the coming general election will get underway on Sept. 29, Gillette said.

The clerk’s office received a state grant to cover the cost of election security, including buildings and computer firewalls, Gillette said.

The grant covering the period from July 2021 through June of 2022 was $22,690, However, Gillette told county board members she has been informed that no such grant will be forthcoming this year.

“That kind of stinks,” Gillette told the board.

The clerk’s office also receives a yearly Illinois Voter Registration System grant for costs including mailings, computers and printers and other costs associated with getting voters registered. The most recent grant was for $100,780.

There were 17,943 ballots cast in Kendall County in the June 28 primary for a voter turnout of 21.5%, up marginally from the 21.02% turnout in the 2018 election, Gillette said.

One of the most closely watched election contests was the Oswego Fire Protection District tax-increase referendum, which failed by a margin of one vote out of 8,479 ballots cast.

“Your vote does matter,” Gillette said.