TIPS FOR MAIL-IN VOTING IN CHICAGO

» Don’t wait till the last minute. Mail your ballot at least two weeks before the Nov. 3 Election Day — by Oct. 19. “If you’re going to use the Postal Service, you need to do this ahead of time,” says Helene Gabelnick, who heads the voter service committee for the Chicago chapter of the League of Women Voters. “Don’t procrastinate.”

» Read and follow the instructions to the letter. That includes using only a black or blue pen, using the provided envelope and signing and sealing that envelope as directed.

» No stamp is needed.

» Log on to your election registration to track your mailed ballot and make sure it’s received.

» You can use one of the official, secured drop boxes and cut out the Postal Service middleman. To find locations in the city of Chicago, go online to https://chicagoelections.gov/en/home.html. In suburban Cook County, go to https:// www.cookcountyclerk.com/service/mailballot-drop-box-locations. That’s what Susan Stokes, founder of the Chicago Center on Democracy at the University of Chicago, plans to do — not because she’s worried about the mail but because she’s used to voting in person and figures this will approximate that feeling.

» If you’ve ordered a mail ballot but change your mind and decide to vote in person, bring that mail ballot to your polling place to have an election judge cancel it before you cast your vote.

» If you lose your mail ballot, you’ll have to vote provisionally at the polling place, and your vote will be counted once elections officials confirm that your mail ballot wasn’t used.

» If there’s any question about the validity of your signature, election officials say they’ll contact you.

» More information on voting in Chicago can be found online at ChicagoElections.gov.