Will County early voting picks up, hours extended next week

Early voting hours will be extended to 7 p.m. next week at the 26 Will County locations where voters can get a jump on the Nov. 8 election.

More than 12,000 voters had voted early in person as of the end of Thursday, according to the Will County Clerk website. Separately, nearly 24,000 voters sent in mail-in ballots, making total votes cast already at more than 36,000.

“It’s been a robust turnout so far,” said Charles Pelkie, chief of staff for the Will County Clerk’s office.

Early voting at 25 satellite locations just started Monday, although voters have been going to the clerk’s office at the Will County Office Building in downtown Joliet to cast ballots early since Sept. 29. That was also the first day to request mail-in ballots.

“We mailed out a little over 30,000 ballots in that first mailing,” Pelkie said. “There’s a surge of interest in mail-in voting and has been since the pandemic.”

There were 124,000 mail-in ballots cast in the 2020 election, when voting also was spurred by interest in the presidential race. The 2022 midterm election is not expected to generate as big a turnout, but Pelkie said the clerk’s office still is expecting somewhere in the area of 50,000 mail-in ballots.

Will County has 462,483 registered voters with turnout typically heaviest during presidential election years.

Turnout was 58% in the 2018 midterm election with nearly 250,000 ballots cast.

In-person early voting is becoming more convenient with the extension of voting hours to 7 p.m. at the clerk’s office and at many of the satellite offices.

More convenience comes next weekend when many of those offices also will be open for early voting on Saturday and Sunday.

Not all satellite early voting locations will be open during evening and weekend hours. The Will County Clerk Office in downtown Joliet will be open until 7 p.m. and next weekend for early voting. Voters can find other location and their hours for early voting on the clerk’s website, which is willcountyclerk.gov.

Early voting locations include village halls, libraries, park facilities and community centers. Two of the busiest early voting sites so far are the Fountaindale Public Library branch in Bolingbrook where 1,059 people have voted and the 95th Street Library in Naperville where 1,039 people have voted.

The clerk’s website includes other helpful information for voters whether they’re voting early or on Nov. 8, including a link for sample ballots in which voters can type in their addresses and see the ballots they will get at the polling place. The same link can be used by voters to find their polling places on Election Day.