Vote in
Illinois
Pick a different stateRegister by October 6
The deadline has passed. Voter registration is conducted until and including Election Day through regular and grace period registration.
Facts · Read Oct 26Check you are registered. If you are not, do it now.
Go to Illinois registration →Vote early September 24 to November 2
Open now
1 day left.
Early voting runs September 24 through November 2, 2026, at the office of your election authority and any other locations it designates. Each election authority sets its own days, hours and places, so check yours with the state lookup.
Your county sets the days and hours. Look yours up →Early voting is the real date. Same ballot, shorter line, and if something is wrong with your registration you still have days to fix it.
Facts · Read Oct 26Election Day, November 3. Last resort.
Where to vote
Find your polling placeThe state calls this the polling place and registration lookup tool. Some jurisdictions also run Election Day vote centers.Read October 26, 2026 from Illinois State Board of Elections.
Registered at home but living somewhere else?What Illinois says to do when the address you are registered at is not the address you live at.
We have not confirmed Illinois’s rule for this from an official source yet, so we are not printing one. Check which address you are registered at, then ask that county election office what to do.
All the datesRegistering online, by mail and in person, checking your registration, your polling place, and when polls close in Illinois.
Register by
Regular registration closes Tuesday, October 6, 2026. A mailed application counts if it is postmarked before registration closes. Online registration runs through October 18, 2026, and in person grace period registration runs through Election Day.
Facts · Read Oct 26Register online
Checking. Our last check of this is out of date, so we are checking it again.
Register by mail
The state says a mailed application is on time if it is postmarked prior to the close of registration on Tuesday, October 6, 2026. Mail it before that day. If there is no readable postmark, it counts if the election authority receives it within five calendar days after registration closes.
Facts · Read Oct 26Register in person
After regular registration closes, register or transfer your registration at the office of your election authority under grace period registration, through Election Day. Bring two forms of identification, at least one showing your current address.
Facts · Read Oct 26Register and vote the same day
Grace period registration happens at the office of your election authority and other locations it designates. Two forms of identification are needed, at least one showing your current residence address.
Facts · Read Oct 26Check you are registered
The state calls this "Am I Registered to Vote in Illinois?".
Facts · Read Oct 26Register online
The state Voter Registration page links this as the place to register online.
Facts · Read Oct 26Early, in person
Early voting runs September 24 through November 2, 2026, at the office of your election authority and any other locations it designates. Each election authority sets its own days, hours and places, so check yours with the state lookup.
Facts · Read Oct 26Find your polling place
The state calls this the polling place and registration lookup tool. Some jurisdictions also run Election Day vote centers.
Facts · Read Oct 26Polls close
Polling places are open 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Election Day.
Facts · Read Oct 26What to bringThe ID Illinois accepts, and what to do if you do not have one.
ID your state accepts
- Either their driver’s license number or State identification card number
- Verification by the last 4 digits of the person’s social security number
- A copy of a current and valid photo identification, or a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, paycheck, government check
- Other federal, State, or local government document that shows the person’s name and address
- A valid photo ID card issued by a college or university accompanied by either a copy of the applicant’s contract or lease for a residence, or any postmarked mail delivered to the applicant at their current residence address
This list is what the state tells election judges to ask for from one group of voters: people who registered by mail and did not give the election authority sufficient proof of identity at that time. Illinois publishes no ID list for voters generally. If you are unsure whether you are on that list, ask your election authority, and bring ID if you have it.
Facts · Read Oct 26If you do not have one
The state writes this for the voters described above. Ask for a provisional ballot rather than leaving.
Facts · Read Oct 26Carry a second document
Checking. We are confirming whether Illinois publishes a second document list before we print anything here. Ask your state election office.
Make the plan
Three taps. No account. It stays on this phone.
Roll Call
Lock your date, bring your people, and see how your side is doing.
Who runs your election
The Illinois State Board of Elections administers elections in Illinois. Your county or parish election office runs the polling places, counts the ballots, and answers questions about your own ballot. They are the people to call, and the ones whose answer is final.
Statewide offices are the ones every voter in Illinois votes on, and every ballot counts the same from any precinct in the state. District seats are drawn on a map, so where you live decides which of those you vote on.
Some years a ballot also asks voters to change the rules of voting itself. Those questions tend to cover:
- what counts as ID at the polls or with a mail ballot
- how early voting and mail voting work, and by when
- how districts get drawn and who draws them
- how the election office itself is run and funded
We do not tell you what is on your ballot or what to make of it. Your sample ballot carries the official wording, written by the state. Read it at the Illinois State Board of Elections.
Mail, honestlyVoting by mail works. It also has rules, and the rules are where ballots get lost.
Your dates are above: when to ask for the ballot, when it has to be back, what happens if a signature is questioned.
- Sign exactly the way you signed when you registered.
- Send it back early, not on the last day.
- Would rather not trust the mail? Check the early in-person window above and go in person.
Who can vote by mail
The state Voting by Mail fact sheet says any qualified elector of the state of Illinois who is properly registered to vote may apply for a vote by mail ballot.
Facts · Read Oct 26Ask for your ballot by
A request by mail must be received by your election authority by October 29, 2026. Applications opened August 5, 2026. You can also request a ballot in person.
Facts · Read Oct 26It has to be back by
A mailed ballot counts if it is postmarked by Election Day, November 3, 2026, and received by your election authority no later than 14 days after the election, which is November 17, 2026. A mailed ballot often gets its postmark a day or two after it is dropped in a mailbox, so mail it early.
Facts · Read Oct 26Where to drop it off
Drop boxes are provided by your election authority where available. The state keeps a drop box location search.
Facts · Read Oct 26Someone else returning it
Track your ballot
Checking. We have not found a statewide mail ballot tracker on the state site; the address our research pointed at does not exist. Your election authority can confirm your ballot status. Ask your state election office.
If your signature is questioned
Checking. The state pages we can read do not describe the notice and cure process for a rejected mail ballot, so we are confirming it before we print it. Ask your state election office.
The lineIf the line is long, that is not a reason to leave. It is a reason to stay.
Bring water. Bring a charger. Bring a chair if you can carry one, a book, and a friend. Check your bag rules with your county first. If you are in line when the polls close, stay in line: your state decides what happens next, and every state page here prints its own rule in its own words.
- Water
- A charger
- A chair if you can
- Something to read
- A friend
If you are in line when polls close in Illinois
From the state 2026 Precinct Election Manual for election judges. Anyone arriving after 7:00 p.m. may not vote unless a court extends polling hours.
Facts · Read Oct 26Time off to vote
Checking. We are confirming the Illinois time off to vote rule against the state before we print it; the state election pages we can read do not state it. Ask your state election office.
Your rightsA provisional ballot, help if you need it, and the number to call from the line.
You can vote a provisional ballot
If your name is not on the list, or you do not have what they ask for, ask for a provisional ballot. In a federal election you have the right to cast one. Ask what you must do afterwards for it to count, and write it down.
You can bring someone to help
You can bring a person of your choice to help you vote, with limits your state sets on who it cannot be. Ask the poll worker for the rule in writing.
Language and disability assistance
Polling places must be accessible, and many places must provide help in other languages. Ask for the accessible machine, the curbside option, or the language help you need.
If someone tries to move you off your vote
Questions about your citizenship, a crowd following you in, someone filming you at the door, a person telling you that you cannot vote: none of that decides your vote. Do not leave the line. Call the hotline from where you stand.
Sources: the Illinois State Board of Elections, and the Election Protection coalition for the hotlines below.
Call from the line
If anyone tells you that you cannot vote, or you are turned away, or something feels wrong: do not leave. Call.
- 866-OUR-VOTE866-687-8683 · English
- 888-VE-Y-VOTA888-839-8682 · Spanish and English
- 888-API-VOTE888-274-8683 · Asian languages and English
- 844-YALLA-US844-925-5287 · Arabic and English
Election Protection, administered by the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Numbers confirmed against their own site on September 19, 2026.
Your state election office is the final word. We print what its own pages say, with the date we read them.
A few of Illinois’s details are still being confirmed with its election office. Those are marked Checking and link straight to the state.
Read on October 26, 2026 from your state election office, checked by AI against the Illinois State Board of Elections pages. Illinois State Board of Elections is the final word. See something wrong? Report it.