Posted on January 4, 2023 at 7:27 AM by Robert Watson
Vote by mail applications are now available for the April 4, 2023 Consolidated Election. Our Vote by Mail web page offers two ways to submit your application - one version to print and mail in, the other to complete and submit online. View the Election calendar to see deadlines.
The vote by mail application allows three options to request a vote by mail ballot.
- Submit a request for a vote by mail ballot for the April 4, 2023 Consolidated Election only.
- Submit a request for a vote by mail ballot for all subsequent elections that do not require a party designation. (permanent vote by mail application)
- Submit a request for a vote by mail ballot for all subsequent elections (those that do and do not require a party designation). In selecting this option the voter must select that party designation that they want to receive in subsequent elections. (permanent vote by mail application)
If selecting a permanent vote by mail application, the voter will continue to receive a vote by mail ballot for future elections using the parameters selected until that voter is deceased, updates their permanent vote by mail application by submitting a new application, or submits a written request to cancel their application.
Posted on January 3, 2023 at 8:42 PM by Robert Watson
On Tuesday, January 3, members of the McLean County Electoral Board (McLean County Clerk Kathy Michael, McLean County Circuit Clerk Don Everhart, and Assistant State’s Attorney Trevor Sierra, representing State’s Attorney Erika Reynolds) met to review the Objector’s Petitions of Brad Wurth and Dennis Frank of the Nominating Petitions of Candidates Mark Stephen Adams II and Alex Williams for the office of McLean County Unit District #5 Board of Education.
Both Mr. Wurth’s and Mr. Frank’s objections were declared invalid. With this decision, the Board declared that Mr. Adam’s and Mr. Williams’ names will appear as candidates for the office of McLean County Unit District #5 Board of Education for the April 4, 2023 Consolidated Election.
The Board reviewed and found that the objections were invalid due to the lack of each objector’s residence address being provided in the objections. Referencing Illinois cases from 1997 and 2016, the Board adhered to precedents set that the objector’s residence address is required and that objectors are not permitted to amend their objections.
Posted on December 29, 2022 at 8:02 AM by Robert Watson
Notice is hereby given that on Tuesday, January 3, 2023 at 10:00 am, the McLean County Electoral Board will hold a hearing in the Community Room of the Government Center, 115 E. Washington St., Bloomington, IL to hear arguments for and against:
- The objection filed by Dennis Frank against the nominating papers of Alex Williams, non-partisan candidate for McLean County Community Unit School District #5 Board of Education.
- The objection filed by Brad Wurth against the nominating papers of Mark Stephen Adams II, non-partisan candidate for McLean County Community Unit School District #5 Board of Education.
Posted on November 13, 2022 at 8:52 PM by Robert Watson
While the 2022 General Election Day has passed, there are still two remaining deadlines.
Provisional Voting
If a voter who voted provisionally would like to present information pertaining to why their vote should count, they must do so by 4:30pm on Tuesday, November 15. To learn more about provisional voting read the Illinois State Board of Elections Provisional Voting pamphlet.
Vote by mail
The deadline to return a vote by mail ballot was November 8 (if in person or at a dropbox) or must have been postmarked by November 8 by the US Postal Service. Any vote by mail ballot that was postmarked by November 8, but is delivered on or before November 22 will be reviewed by our panel of Republican and Democratic election judges.
Appeal a vote by mail ballot rejection
If your vote by mail ballot was received by our office and you were mailed a letter stating that it was rejected, you can appeal the rejection in person until 4:30 pm on Thursday, Nov. 22.
Posted on November 5, 2022 at 9:58 PM by Robert Watson
In 2016, County Clerk Kathy Michael penned an Op-Ed and submitted it to The Pantagraph, the local newspaper where it ran. That Op-Ed was titled Have confidence your vote is safe.
This week, the same Op-Ed was posted online in FarmWeekNow and will be printed in their newspaper with permission from The Pantagraph. The FarmWeekNow newspaper is distributed to 72,000 Illinoisans.
Read Have confidence your vote is safe on FarmWeekNow.com.
Posted on November 1, 2022 at 10:27 PM by Robert Watson
10 ILCS 5/19-2
2022 GENERAL ELECTION
Thursday, November 3, 2022, is the last day that a voter can request a vote by mail ballot electronically or by mail. These vote by mail applications must be received before the close of business (4:30 pm).
Voters may still appear in-person at the election authority office to request a vote by mail ballot through the close of business (4:30pm) the day before the election (Nov. 7).
Posted on October 24, 2022 at 6:30 PM by Robert Watson
Beginning Saturday, October 29, early voting at Eastland Mall will be extended to be open during the weekends.
Early Voting at Eastland Mall is held in the former MC Sports store near Kohl's. Plentiful parking is available, including handicap-accessible spaces.
Early voting at the Government Center (downtown Bloomington) and ISU's campus (Watterson Towers and the Bone Student Center) will continue to operate Monday - Friday.
Early voting locations, addresses, and hours of operation are available on the Early Voting web page.
Posted on October 23, 2022 at 8:49 PM by Robert Watson
The ballot envelope does have a number of fields. If you are mailing your ballot or delivering it yourself, and no one helped you complete the ballot, you only have to complete the signature and date fields.
Posted on October 23, 2022 at 8:35 PM by Robert Watson
Illinois law states that voter registrations submitted on paper cannot be accepted by mail after October 23. We’re now in a period called Grace Period Registration. During this period, if a person wants to register, they must do so at a specified location and they must vote immediately after registering. Registering voters must present
two forms of ID.
Grace Period Registration is available at
Early Voting sites and on Election Day.
If you submitted a paper registration dated on or before October 23, or you’re correcting an issue with your paper registration, we can still accept it. However, any person wishing to register after October 23 must do so in-person.
Registering on Election Day may result in longer wait lines. We suggest you try to register and vote early if you can.
Posted on October 17, 2022 at 7:57 AM by Robert Watson
Beginning this morning at 10:00 am early voting locations at ISU are open. McLean County Voters (except residents of the city of Bloomington) can vote early at two locations at Illinois State University.
Early voting locations are open at the Bone Student Center's Founder's Suite and in the Rosa Parks room in Watterson Towers. These locations will be open from 10:00 am - 4:00 pm Monday through Friday until November 4.
If you are not registered to vote yet, you can register to vote and vote at either location. Illinois law requires that a voter who registers to vote at an early voting location must vote at the same time. Voters cannot register, leave, then come back to vote.
Early voting locations are also open at Eastland Mall (in the former MC Sports location by Kohl's) and at the Government Center. Full details are available on the Early Voting page of the McLean County website.