Applying for and returning a Will County ballot
A registered voter seeking a Will County vote-by-mail ballot must submit an application, according to the Will County Clerk’s Office. The ballot comes with a prepaid return envelope. Voters should seal the completed ballot in its ballot envelope, sign and date that envelope, and place it inside the return envelope, the clerk’s return instructions say. A mailed ballot must arrive by Election Day or, if it arrives later, carry an Election Day postmark to count.
Illinois voters do not need an excuse to vote by mail. Matt Dietrich, a spokesman for the Illinois State Board of Elections, told the Chicago Sun-Times that the state ended its excuse requirement in 2010 and no longer has a separate absentee-ballot category in law.
Will County voting options
The Will County Clerk’s Office identifies three ways for county voters to cast a ballot: by mail, through early voting or at a polling place on Election Day. Its guidance does not give a figure for how many Will County voters voted by mail in the most recent presidential election.
What reports establish about Prevost’s request
Pope Leo XIV, born Robert Francis Prevost, is registered to vote at a New Lenox address. WJOL reported that someone close to him requested a mail ballot on Oct. 3 for delivery to that address, and that the request was verified and the ballot sent. Separately, the Sun-Times reported that the Will County Clerk’s Office confirmed Prevost was on the list of people who requested a vote-by-mail ballot. The reports do not establish whether the ballot was delivered to him, completed or returned.
