Marion County Clerk Steve Fox has announced additional early voting locations as county residents have been filling the courthouse nearly every day to vote.
Fox says an additional early voting site will be available on Tuesday and again Tuesday, October 27th, for all 48 precincts at the Centralia Township Offices at 148 South Poplar. Voting hours both days will be from nine am to three pm. The additional site will also be a drop-off point for returning a vote by mail ballot as well as the clerk’s office at the courthouse.
Fox has also announced his office on the second floor of the courthouse will be open from eight to noon the next two Saturdays for early voting.
As of the end of the day Friday, 1,348 had already voted early at the courthouse. As of mid-week, 898 had returned early ballots. That’s about half the number that had been requested.
Statewide nearly 660-thousand had already voted in the November election. About 176,000 ballots were cast in early voting with the rest coming from mail-in ballots.
State Board of Elections Spokesperson Matt Dietrich says they are strongly urging voters to return their mail-in ballot right away to ensure they are included in election night totals and to catch any errors.
“You send in your ballot and if there is any kind of problem with it, your election authority is required to notify you within 2-days. If you get it back in early you’re ensured that there is plenty of time to rectify any problems that might come up with your signature, the ballot being damaged, it arriving unsealed, anything like that.”
The last day to request a mail-in ballot is October 29th. Visit: elections.il.gov for more information.
