Election officials in Illinois are warning the public of the possible impacts of a change to the way the United States Postal Service postmarks mail.
Those rule changes went into effect in January, making the March primary the first time the measure has had the potential to impact the counting of votesElection officials in Illinois are warning the public of the possible impacts of a change to the way the United States Postal Service postmarks mail.
That change went into effect on January 1, and officials are saying it could have an impact on those residents who choose to cast their election ballots by mail.According to the USPS, the new policy says a postmark no longer reflects the date a piece of mail is received by the service. Rather, it reflects the day the mail is processed, which can occur days after the mail is received. In Illinois and many other states that have mail-in balloting, a vote-by-mail ballot must be postmarked no later than Election Day and must be received no later than 14 days after that date in order to be counted. As a result, the new postmark rules could render ballots sent on Election Day ineligible to be counted, and election officials are urging voters to send in their ballots as early as possible to avoid that situation. “While this change has been described as minor, its potential impact on elections is anything but,” Cook County Clerk Monica Gordon said in a statement. It is advised that residents try to mail in their ballot well before the election, and if possible, to bring the ballot directly to the post office instead of just dropping it into a mailbox.“We have worked hard to build public confidence in vote-by-mail,” Gordon said. “Any policy change that introduces uncertainty for voters is deeply concerning. In the state of Illinois, any voter can request a mail-in ballot, but must do so no later than five days prior to the date of an election. That date falls on March 12 for this year’s primary election. Voters who wish to cast ballots via mail must submit an application to their local county clerk’s office, with that form available on the Board of Elections’ website. According to officials, voters can check the status of their ballot once they submit it via their county clerk’s office, with many counties offering the service online. If a mail-in ballot is rejected, the county clerk’s office is required to alert you within two days, and to give an opportunity to correct the ballot so that it can be counted. Voting by mail has grown in popularity since it was implemented, but it has been a frequent target of criticism in some corners,Trump signed an executive order in 2025 that would prohibit states from counting mail-in ballots that arrive at county clerks’ offices after Election Day, a move that has been challenged in court. He also has repeatedly suggested that mail-in voting can be used to undertake election fraud efforts, an accusation that has been pushed against by numerous groups. The Democratic National Committee has called the criticisms of mail-in voting “an attack on our democracy,” and has signed onto the“The DNC won’t sit idly by as Republicans attack our electoral system — we will keep fighting like hell to ensure every eligible voter is able to have their vote counted,” DNC Chair Ken Martin said in a statement.
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