According to data gathered by ABC Owned Television Stations, mail-in ballot rejections have been minimal in the last two election cycles but growing; from less than 1% in 2016 to 1.4% in 2018. While small in percentage, that still translates to more than 425,000 voters who lost their voice at the ballot box in the last election.
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Data from the 2016 presidential election showed Stephenson County as the only county in the state with a high rejection rate of 11.6%; 78 of the 749 mail-in ballots were rejected.
By 2018, the state had four counties with a high rejection rate of 10% or more:
- Franklin County saw a 27.7% when 39 of its 141 were rejected.
- Kendall County had a 15% rejection rate when 367 of 2,445 were rejected.
- Scott County had 8 out of 60 mail-in ballots rejected, making its rate 13.3%
- Stephenson County saw a rise in its rejection rate in 2018 when 92 out 715 mail-in ballots were rejected. Its rate went from 11.6% to 12.9% in those two years
During both elections, Cook County had a rejection rate of less than 5% with .7% of mail-in ballots being rejected in 2016. By the 2018 election, that rate went up to 1.7%. Will County had a 0.7% mail-in ballot rejection.
As of Thursday, the Chicago Board of Elections reported more than 450,000 vote-by-mail applications. As of 9 a.m. that same day more than 8,000 had been returned.
The highest number of vote-by-mail ballots previously requested was during World War II, with 116,117 applications.
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The general election will be held on November 3, 2020. Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day.
By-mail voter registration in Illinois ends on October 6. Online voter registration ends on October 18.
Grace period voter registration in Illinois runs from October 7 through Election Day. All grace period voter registration must be done in person.
Want to save time on Election Day?
For a closer look at the states and counties with a high-rate of mail-in ballot rejection take a look at the map below.
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SEE ALSO:
Vote by mail: How to request a ballot for mail-in voting, and more
Early voting in Chicago begins with hundreds lining up at Loop Super Site
Vote 2020: Election Information for Voting in Illinois and Indiana
6 ways mail-in ballots are protected from fraud
2020 Illinois vote questions answered, on mailing ballots, early voting, Election Day rules and more
CORRECTION: The article initally reported the rejection rate in Will County was 68.8% in 2018. The correct number is 0.7%,