Lake board tops 15K in absentee ballots
Anticipates sending more than 1,500 daily ahead of Nov. election
The Lake County Election and Voter Registration Board processed a record-breaking 15,562 absentee ballots as of Saturday and anticipate sending out more than 1,500 absentee ballots a day ahead of the November election, officials said.
Every election, the office is required to send out the first round of absentee ballots 45 days before election day, said Lake County Election and Voter Registration Board Director Michelle Fajman. As of Monday, for each ballot application that is received and approved a ballot will be mailed out the same day, she said.
In the 2008 general election, the office sent out 3,549 absentee ballots by the initial deadline, Fajman said. In the 2012 general election, the office sent out 1,610 absentee ballots and in the 2016 general election the office sent out 1,780 absentee ballots by the initial deadline, she said.
“We’ve done 12,000 more in the first day than we’ve ever done before,” Fajman said, comparing it to the 2008 election when the office started tracking the data.
The office sent out roughly 10,000 ballots Friday evening in anticipation of maintenance work scheduled in the Lake County Government Center for the weekend, Fajman said. She was pleased to receive messages that some voters received their ballots in the mail Saturday, she said.
Roughly 5,000 ballots were sent out by Saturday afternoon, Fajman said. Lake County Democratic Party Chairman James Wieser said he stopped by Saturday to thank the election staff for their hard work and he ended up helping them deliver the remainder of the ballots to the post office.
“I wanted to see how it worked. I wanted to see the mechanics of it,” Wieser said. “Plus, I wanted to let them know we appreciate it and I thought the way to do that was to help.”
Wieser said that the amount of absentee ballots sent out during this general election will be “record shattering” considering that the number of ballots sent in the first batch was so much greater than other elections.
“I think under the circumstances … that’s the way I’d be voting,” Wieser said. “We’ve got it handled very well.”
The staff has been working 12-hour days and weekends
“trying to ensure votes get their ballots,” Fajman said.
But the work is not done yet, she said.
Lake County Republican Party Chairman Dan Dernulc said the election office has been busy processing ballots and that both parties are energized.
“They’re crazy busy. I am confident they will get this done,” Dernulc said.
Officials are anticipating around 50,000 absentee ballots for the general election, Fajman said, compared to the 27,338 absentee ballots received in the primary.
Ahead of the primary, the staff processed about 1,500 ballots a day, Fajman said. For the general election, Fajman said she believes the office will “handle a little more” each day, compared to the primary election, because part-time staff members will help.
For the first time, those who receive an absentee ballot in the mail will receive instructions on how to correct a ballot if it is rejected based on signatures, Fajman said.
After the primary, 700 ballots were rejected, the majority because the signatures on the ballot application and the ballot envelope did not match, she said.
In the general election, if a voter’s ballot is rejected, based on signature, by the election staff the voter will be notified and will have the opportunity to sign an affidavit stating he or she signed the ballot, Fajman said. The affidavit will be included with the ballot so that the counters see it, she said.
If a voter’s ballot is rejected, again based on signature, on Nov. 3, the voter will be notified and have until Nov. 11 to file an affidavit stating he or she signed their ballot, Fajman said. Once the affidavit is returned, the ballot will be counted as a provisional ballot, she said.
Early in-person voting starts Oct. 6, which gives voters about a month to start voting ahead of the election, compared to the five days of early in-person voting in the primary election, Fajman said.
The 11 early voting polling locations will have extended hours on Tuesday and Thursdays, and they will be open the four Saturdays before the election, said Lake County Election and Voter Registration Board Assistant Director LeAnn Angerman. Registration deadline is Oct. 5.
Angerman said that with the Election Commission providing personal protective equipment and the election board approving extended early voting hours, voters will be able to cast a ballot safely.