Where, when and how to vote in Lake County

Early voting: now through Nov. 2

Any Lake County voter can vote at any early-voting site. Early voting has been open since Thursday, Sept. 24, in the lobby of the Lake County Main Courthouse, 18 N. County St., Waukegan, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays through Friday, Oct. 16.

On Monday, Oct. 19, early voting opens at 18 sites across the county. Eleven of them are open only through Saturday, Oct. 31: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays, and closed on Sundays.

Seven sites stay open later, and through Monday, Nov. 2: the courthouse lobby, Highwood Library & Community Center, Lake Barrington Village Hall, Lilac Cottage at Bowen Park in Waukegan, North Chicago Public Library, Round Lake Beach Village Hall and The Landing on Diamond Lake in Mundelein. They're open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays from Oct. 19 through Oct. 23, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 24 (Lilac Cottage closes at noon that day), and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 25. From Oct. 26 they're open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31, and Sunday, Nov. 1, and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 2.

Not registered, or moved? You can register and vote the same day at any early-voting site from Oct. 19 through Nov. 2, or on Election Day at any voting site or the Lake County Main Courthouse lobby. Through Friday, Oct. 16, you can do it only at the Clerk's office, 18 N. County St., Waukegan. You must vote when you register.

Election Day: Tuesday, Nov. 3

Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. You can vote at any of the county's 93 Election Day voting sites, wherever you live in Lake County. The Clerk's Voter Power lookup shows a "preferred" site for your address, but you may vote at any site. Enter your address in the guide above to find the sites nearest you.

Voting by mail

Applications for a mail ballot must reach the Clerk's office by 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 29. Apply through Voter Power.

Return your ballot by mail, postmarked by Election Day; it must arrive by Nov. 17. Or use a drop box. The Clerk lists six 24-hour drop boxes, open until 7 p.m. on Election Day: outside the Lake County Courthouse in Waukegan (west side, on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue), the Juvenile Branch Court in Vernon Hills, the Park City, Mundelein and Round Lake branch courts, and the Lake County Central Permit Facility in Libertyville.

Every early-voting site also has a drop box inside during its hours, and on Election Day every voting site has one until 7 p.m. You can also hand your ballot in at the Clerk's office, 18 N. County St., Room 101, Waukegan, until 7 p.m. on Election Day. If you're returning your ballot within a week of Election Day, the Clerk recommends a drop box, delivering it in person, or asking for a hand postmark at a post office counter.

If there's a problem with your ballot's envelope, the Clerk's office will contact you; you have 14 days after the election, until Tuesday, Nov. 17, to fix it. Track your ballot in Voter Power.

What to bring

You don't need ID to vote in Lake County if you're already registered. If you're registering when you vote, bring two forms of ID, one showing your current address.

Getting there

Where a Pace bus stop or Metra station is within a quarter-mile of an early-voting site or Election Day voting site, the guide names it and the routes that serve it, and the directions links open your maps app with transit directions. Many sites have no Pace or Metra stop that close.

Accessibility

The Clerk says every early-voting and Election Day site meets the Americans with Disabilities Act, with accessible entrance ramps, wheelchair-accessible voting booths, magnifying lenses and ballot-marking equipment that can show a large-print ballot or read it to you through headphones.

If you're blind, have a disability, or can't read or write English or Spanish, you can have someone help you mark your ballot, as long as it isn't your employer, an agent of your employer, or an officer or agent of your union. To vote curbside, call the Clerk's office at 847-377-2408 at least one day before Election Day.

About this guide

Early-voting sites, Election Day voting sites, precincts and drop boxes come from the Lake County Clerk; County Board districts and drop-box map points from Lake County; congressional and legislative districts and map geography from the U.S. Census Bureau; stops and routes from Pace's and Metra's published timetables. The Chicago Messenger is not affiliated with the Lake County Clerk. Confirm details at lakecountyclerk.info.