If you are voting by mail, send in your ballot NOW. If you are concerned that you may have waited too long to mail in your ballot and your vote may not be counted, there are several options to ensure your mail-in ballot reaches the Election office before the deadline.
OPTION ONE – VOTING BY MAIL: The USPS is advising voters wishing to return their mail ballot to get them in the mail AT LEAST one week prior to the deadline (TODAY). Since ballots must be RECEIVED in the Elections Office by (NOT POSTMARKED BY) 7 pm on August 18th for the Primary Election, time is of the essence to get them in the mail.
OPTION TWO – BRING BALLOT TO A DROPBOX: Voters who are concerned about mailing have other options to return their ballot. In Lake County, Early Voting is currently available until Saturday, August 15th. Sites are open from 10 am to 6 pm. Each Early Voting site has a SECURE DROPBOX to collect vote-by-mail ballots.
Voters can drop off their voted ballot during voting hours during the Early Voting period. The ballots must be deposited in the appropriate receptacle at Early Voting sites. Ballots deposited at Early voting sites are collected by Elections staff and are returned to the Elections Office daily. For a list of Early Voting locations voters can visit our website: www.LakeVotes.com and click the Early Voting tab on our homepage.
OPTION THREE – 24/7 Ballot Drop Off: Voters also have the option of dropping off their voted mail ballot in the secure curbside drop box located in the Elections Office parking lot. The drop box is available 24/7 from now until just before 7 pm on Election Day. Hand delivery whenever possible is encouraged when it is this close to the deadline.
Voted mail ballots CANNOT be accepted at your Election Day polling location.
OPTION FOUR – Voters always have the option to vote in person, even if they have requested to vote by mail. They would just need to bring their ballot with them to the polls so the clerk can cancel that ballot and re-issue them a new ballot to vote at the precinct. Voters who did not receive their mail ballot can notify the clerk and will be able to get a ballot reissued as well. If the ballot has not been RECEIVED in the Elections Office, an Election Day or Early Voting ballot may be issued to the voter. “Our electronic poll books will note whether a voter has voted by mail, at an Early Voting site, or at their assigned precinct on Election Day. This prevents a voter from voting twice in the same election,” Alan Hays, Supervisoe of Elections for Lake County stated.
Hays noted, “to date we have mailed out 58,864 ballots and have only received 20,465 back in our office”.
