Where, when and how to vote in Will County

Early voting: now through Nov. 2

Any Will County voter can vote at any of the County Clerk's 25 early-voting sites. One has been open since Thursday, Sept. 24: the Clerk's office, 302 N. Chicago St., Joliet, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays. The other 24 open Monday, Oct. 19, or later.

Four more sites keep the same hours as the Clerk's office from Oct. 19: Fountaindale Public Library in Bolingbrook, the Joliet Park District, 3000 W. Jefferson St., the Naperville Public Library's 95th Street branch, and the City of Naperville, 400 S. Eagle St., which is just across the county line in DuPage County. All five are open 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Oct. 19-23; 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Oct. 24; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays, Oct. 25 and Nov. 1; 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Oct. 26-30; and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31. They're the only sites open on the last day, Monday, Nov. 2, from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The other 20 sites, at village halls, township offices, libraries and recreation centers, keep shorter hours, mostly on weekdays from Oct. 19 through Oct. 30. A few are open only part of that time: the Village of Monee, Oct. 19-23; the Spanish Community Center in Joliet, Oct. 19-25; Hartman Recreation Center in Joliet, Oct. 26-30; and Crete Township, Oct. 26-31. The Village of Channahon's site closes for lunch from noon to 1 p.m. The guide above lists every site's days and hours.

Not registered, or moved? You can register and vote the same day at any early-voting site, or at your polling place on Election Day. You can also register online through Sunday, Oct. 18.

Election Day: Tuesday, Nov. 3

Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. In Will County you vote at your own precinct's polling place; there are 227 polling places for the county's 310 precincts. If you're in line at 7 p.m., you can still vote. Enter your address in the guide above to find your polling place.

The Clerk lists new polling places for 16 precincts this election, in Bolingbrook, Homer Glen, Joliet, Lockport, Manhattan, Naperville, New Lenox and Steger. The guide has the new places.

Voting by mail

Applications for a mail ballot must reach the County Clerk's office by Thursday, Oct. 29. Apply online.

Return your ballot by mail, postmarked by Election Day; it must arrive by Nov. 17. The return envelope's postage is prepaid. Or use one of the 11 drop boxes on the Clerk's vote-by-mail page. The box outside the Clerk's office, 302 N. Chicago St., Joliet, takes ballots around the clock until 7 p.m. on Election Day. The other 10, inside libraries, village halls and Governors State University, take ballots only while those buildings are open, and they close at noon Monday, Nov. 2.

If someone else drops off your ballot at a drop box or the Clerk's office, you must complete the Affidavit of Delivery on the back of the return envelope.

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 with BallotTrax.

What to bring

You don't need ID to vote in Will County if you're already registered. If you're registering when you vote, bring two forms of ID, one showing your current address. The Clerk can't yet accept a mobile driver's license or state ID as one of them.

Getting there

Where a Pace bus stop or Metra station is within a quarter-mile of an early-voting site or polling place, 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

Every early-voting site and polling place has a wheelchair-accessible voting booth and a Verity Touch Writer, which lets voters with disabilities mark a ballot privately. You can get help from a friend or relative, or from two election judges of opposing parties. A voter with a disability who can't make it to the entrance can ask two election judges to bring a ballot out, up to 50 feet from the entrance.

Curbside voting is offered only at the Clerk's office in Joliet, during early-voting hours. Call 815-740-4615 at least a day ahead.

About this guide

Early-voting sites, drop boxes and polling places come from the Will County Clerk; precincts, polling-place locations and County Board districts from Will County's GIS; 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 Will County Clerk. Confirm details at willcountyclerk.gov.