Kane County sees 86,537 ballots cast ahead of election

Kane County Clerk John A. Cunningham announced that as of Monday, a total of 86,537 Kane County voters have cast their ballots for the Nov. 5 General Election through in-person Early Voting and Vote by Mail.

Of these, 53,229 votes were cast in person, which is a notable increase compared to the 72,537 early votes in the entire 2016 General Election, according to a news release from the County Clerk’s Office.

In 2020, 60,375 early votes had been cast at this point, according to the release.

Early Voting continues through Monday, Nov. 4.

“Making comparisons to the 2020 General Election is a little like comparing apples and oranges because more voters cast a record number of Vote by Mail ballots due to the pandemic,” Cunningham said in the release. “While we will make comparisons to the 2020 election for context, the 2016 General Election is more a benchmark for comparing this year’s election.”

There have been 33,128 Vote by Mail ballots returned to the Clerk’s Office, compared to 67,472 in 2020 and 9,424 ballots returned in the entire 2016 presidential election, according to the release.

“At this pace, the number of early votes will exceed 2016 and could come close to the record of 100,001 early votes cast in 2020, which also was inflated due to the pandemic,” Cunningham said. “We will not surpass the 85,000 mail ballots cast in 2020, but we have had more than 48,000 voters apply for a Vote by Mail ballot. We expect some of those voters who voted by mail during the pandemic will vote either at an Early Voting site or on Election Day. We still have 8 days left in this election and encourage all registered voters to vote however they feel most comfortable.”

Voters can also request Vote by Mail ballots until Thursday, Oct. 31, and are urged to do so promptly, according to the release.

Applications can be completed online at clerk.kanecountyil.gov/Elections/Pages/Vote-by-Mail.aspx.

Early Voting sites are available throughout Kane County, with permanent sites in Aurora, Geneva, St. Charles, Elgin and Carpentersville, open until 7 p.m. on weekdays and 4 p.m. on weekends.

To see a list of all Early Voting sites available, visit clerk.kanecountyil.gov/Elections/Pages/Early-Voting.aspx.

Thanks to the county’s new voting machines, voters can vote at any Election Day polling site, according to the release.

To see a list of all sites available, visit clerk.kanecountyil.gov/Elections/Pages/Election-Day-Voting.aspx.

To find a personalized sample ballot, visit kanecountyclerk.org/Elections/Pages/Voter-Search.aspx.

Voters can sign up for Ballot Trax to track their ballot at votekane.ballottrax.net/voter.

Completed ballots must be postmarked on or before Nov. 5 in order to be counted.

For updates, follow the Clerk’s Office on Twitter at twitter.com/KaneCoILClerk and Facebook at facebook.com/kanecountyclerk.

For more information about the election, visit clerk.kanecountyil.gov/Elections or call 630-232-5990.