IL · How to vote
Voting in Illinois.
Three ways to vote, three deadlines. ID rules and vote-by-mail policy below — verify the specifics with the Illinois Secretary of State at the link.
1Official source of record
Illinois State Board of Elections
VOTER ID REQUIREMENTS
Illinois does not require a photo ID to vote. First-time voters who registered by mail may need to show ID.
VOTE BY MAIL
Any registered voter can request a mail ballot. No reason required.
3NCSL voter ID requirements2026-04-153NCSL absentee + VBM rules2026-04-15
Official action — IL
The state’s own tools, with links to verify.
Each card below routes to the official Illinois system. Where the state delegates to county Supervisors of Elections, the card says so honestly.
Statewide→
Check my registration
Name + DOB + 5-digit ZIP. Returns polling place if matched.
Statewide→
Register / update online
IL DL/state ID; SSN-4 fallback. Online closes 16 days pre-election; same-day in person.
Statewide→
Find my polling place
County
Preview my ballot
ISBE delegates entirely. Cook, DuPage, Lake, Will, Chicago BOE each run their own.
County
Request a mail ballot
No-excuse mail. Application goes to local election authority, not ISBE.
Not available
Track my mail ballot
No statewide tracker. ISBE explicitly tells voters to ask their LEA. Some counties offer (Will, Cook); coverage incomplete.
Statewide→
See who's on the ballot
Statewide→
Statewide ballot measures
No certified statewide measures for Nov 2026; HJRCA 28 redistricting amendment shelved after 2026-04 SCOTUS VRA ruling.
Statewide→
Live + past results
Federal/statewide/legislative/judicial only. Local results not reported to ISBE — voter must use LEA site.
Statewide→
Election calendar
Primary 2026-03-17, general 2026-11-03. Same-day in-person reg available throughout.
1UOCAVA · military & overseas voters
Federal deadlines for Illinois
Active-duty service members, their families, and U.S. citizens overseas have separate deadlines under UOCAVA. Sourced live from the U.S. Federal Voting Assistance Program.
2026-11-03Ballot Request — General ElectionReceived by
2026-11-03Ballot Request — General ElectionReceived by*
2026-11-03Ballot Request — General ElectionReceived by**
2026-11-03Ballot Return — General ElectionSigned/Postmarked by***
2026-11-03Registration — General ElectionReceived by*
Local authorities — IL
First-class county / borough sources.
For some tasks — especially sample ballot, drop-box lists, and live local results — the county or borough is the authoritative source. We list them here as peer authorities, not delegates.
FIRST-CLASS→FIRST-CLASS→
Cook County Clerk's Office, Election Division (suburban Cook)
Suburban Cook ONLY — 30 townships + 130+ munis outside Chicago. Chicago BOE is a separate authority with its own FIPS-CHI entry. IL has no statewide tracker, so Cook's unified Voter Information tool is the canonical surface for suburban voters.
~1,400,000 registered voters
Chicago Board of Election Commissioners
Covers ONLY the City of Chicago — separate authority inside Cook FIPS. Sample ballot in EN/ES/ZH/HI/PL/KO/TL — most multilingual sample-ballot surface in the sweep. Independent of suburban Cook (different VBM DB, results stack, drop-box list).
~1,500,000 registered voters
Cite this
turnout.app/how-to-vote/il · 2026-05-02 · NCSLOther states
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