Will County Clerk says mail-in vote drop boxes will be limited for April election

One drop box, outside the clerk’s office in Joliet, will be open until election night

A drop box for mail-in ballots sits outside of the Will County Clerk's Office in downtown Joliet.

The Will County Clerk’s Office said it can only open one vote-by-mail drop box for the April 6 municipal election unless state law is changed.

Legal counsel advised the clerk’s office that the only drop box it can operate is the one outside its office at the Will County Office Building, located at 302 N. Chicago St. in downtown Joliet, according to a news release.

For the November 2020 general election, the clerk’s office had eight drop boxes available around the county. The clerk’s office was able to utilize drop boxes after the state legislature voted to allow them in a temporary law last year meant to provide safer voting options amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The law expired on Jan. 1.

“Our program was a great success in the 2020 Presidential Election with nearly 40,000 Vote By Mail Ballots placed in our eight Drop Boxes,” Will County Clerk Lauren Staley Ferry said in the release. “We had hoped the General Assembly earlier this year would reauthorize the use of Drop Boxes permanently so my office could reopen all eight for Will County voters.”

Still, the clerk’s office said it secured approval from all the drop box hosts from the last election to use their space again ahead of April’s election if a new law was passed, though that did not occur, according to the release.

Staley Ferry said she wants lawmakers to revive the drop box program and give residents as many options as possible to vote.

The drop box outside of the clerk’s office will close promptly at 7 p.m. on election night.