Voting By Mail? Here’s What to Know

2/23/26

The Chicago Tribune published a letter to the editor from LWVIL President Becky Simon on February 21 on what voters should do to ensure their vote-by-mail ballots are counted.

Advice for voting by mail

The U.S. Postal Service taking one to three days to postmark or just process mail is not new. We’ve heard anecdotal evidence this has been going on with vote-by-mail ballots since at least 2024. What appears to be “new” is that this procedure was finally codified in December and made public.

Our advice to voters is to focus on what they should do to protect their vote-by-mail ballots:

• Use a secure drop box where available or return your vote-by-mail ballot directly to the election authority’s office.

• Use a drop box for this purpose at early voting sites.

• Go inside the post office or postal retail site and request your ballot be postmarked.

• Request and return vote-by-mail ballots as early as possible to avoid possible delays in processing.

• Consider the last day as March 10 to put your ballot in the U.S. mail.

Becky Simon, President
League of Women Voters of Illinois