1 in 5 Will County registered voters have cast early ballots for Nov. 5 election

Will County — After a full week of early voting being available at all Will County early voting polling locations, more than 20% of the county’s registered voters have cast ballots either in person or by mail for the Nov. 5 general election.

Early voting opened at the Will County Clerk’s Office on Sept. 26 and expanded to 24 additional voting sites on Oct. 21.

According to the Will County Clerk’s Office, those 24 sites have seen 54,820 votes cast between Oct. 21-28 and 7,943 ballots have been cast at the Will County Clerk’s Office in Joliet since Sept. 26.

In addition, 35,508 mail-in ballots have been returned through the U.S. postal service and county-wide drop box sites—more than half of the 58,003 mail-in ballots which were requested.

In total, 97,821 ballots have been cast in Will County – approximately 39% of the county’s total ballots cast in 2020′s election – with one week remaining until Election Day. Aside from the Clerk’s Office, the Fountaindale Public Library and the Naperville Public Library—95th Street Branch have seen the highest turnout, with over 6,000 voters each in the first week of early voting.

Will County is home to 441,483 registered voters, though it is still possible to register on-site while voting at certain early polling places or a voter’s assigned precinct on Election Day.

In order to register day-of, residents must bring two forms of identification with them, including one that shows their current address. A checkbook or utility bill can serve as identification for this purpose.

Early voting sites

Early voting is available at the Will County Clerk’s Office, the city hall buildings in Braidwood, Naperville, Channahon, Elwood, Frankfort, Manhattan, Mokena, New Lenox, Plainfield, and Romeoville; the Fountaindale Public Library in Bolingbrook; the Frankfort Public Library, the Joliet Park District, Governor’s State University (across from the Paul Bunyan Statue), the Louis Sherman Community Center in Hopkins, the Prairie Activity and Rec Center in Plainfield, the University Park Public Library, the Naperville Public Library—95th Street; and the township buildings for Homer, Lockport, Washington, Crete and Troy Townships.

While most early voting locations are open to all Will County residents, the Troy Township location is only available to residents of Troy Township.

Specific hours of operation and addresses for each location can be found on the Will County Clerk website. Early voting is available Monday through Friday at nearly all early-voting locations, with some providing limited weekend hours.

The Will County Clerk’s Office, the City of Naperville, the Foundtaindale Public Library, the Frankfort Public Library, the Joliet Park District, Governor’s State University, the Naperville Public Library, Lockport Township, the Prairie Activity and Rec Center, University Park Library, Washington Township, and the Village of New Lenox all offer early voting on select weekend days.

Early voting will also be available at the Spanish Community Center in Joliet only on Saturday and Sunday.

Mail-in ballot returns

Mail-in ballots which have already been requested must be returned in-person at the Will County Clerk’s Office by 7 p.m. on Election Day or dropped in any of the county drop-box locations by the evening of Nov. 4. They may also be mailed through the USPS but must be postmarked by Nov. 5 to be considered valid.

The drop-box locations for mail-in ballots are located at the Will County Office Building in Joliet, the Foundtaindale Public Library, the Frankfort Public Library, the Main Building at Governors State University, the Joliet Public Library—Black Road Branch, the Naperville Public Library—95th Street, the Plainfield Public Library, the White Oak Library in Lockport, and the Wilmington Public Library.

Drop-boxes are available in all these locations during the building’s hours of operation, which can be found on the County Clerk’s website.