Early voting began across Illinois for the 2018 general elections and Sangamon County has seen interest surge compared to even the 2016 presidential election.
So far, 1,981 people already cast votes, according to Sangamon County Director of Elections Stacey Kern. Of the 5,846 ballots requested by mail, 1,752 were returned. Nine voters took advantage of the grace period to register.
“It is encouraging that Sangamon County is experiencing an extraordinary high amount of participation in both in-office early voting and ballots by mail,” Kern said. “Should the current trends hold, we could once again break some turnout records for a midterm election.”
In 2014, Sangamon County saw 279 early voters and 1,401 mail-in ballots returned against 4,138 requested. During the 2016 presidential election, the county recorded 2,467 early voters. That year, voters submitted 960 ballots by mail against 4,255 requested.
Early voting across Illinois started Sept. 27 and will go through Nov. 5, the day before the election.
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