Kendall County Clerk sending out vote-by-mail applications for Nov. 8 general election

YORKVILLE – Voters in Kendall County should be keeping an eye on their mailboxes.

Kendall County Clerk Debbie Gillette is sending out 82,775 mailings to registered voters with applications for vote-by-mail options in the upcoming Nov. 8 general election.

Gillette told the Kendall County Board on Aug. 16 that the mailings, now required under state law, were to be sent out within a few days.

Meanwhile, early voting at the clerk’s office, 111 W. Fox St. in Yorkville and other locations in the county for the coming general election will get underway on Sept. 29, Gillette said.

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.

The mailing from the clerk’s office includes the voter’s identification number.

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.

Gillette said is urging voters to use the application they receive from the clerk’s office.

The Voter Participation Center application lacks the voter’s identification number and other information that is needed by the clerk’s office, Gillette said.