Voters have begun to weigh in on a number of local election races across Kane and neighboring counties.
There have been 11,734 ballots cast in Kane County via early in-person voting through March 26, according to data from the clerk’s office. Of 38,220 mail-in ballots sent to voters, 13,700 have been received by the clerk’s office as of Wednesday. In total, about 8% of registered voters have cast their ballots in the county based on data from the clerk’s office.
DuPage County has received 4,632 mail-in ballots as of Thursday afternoon, of 98,921 sent out for the election, according to data from the DuPage County Clerk’s Office, and 23,411 ballots have been cast in person as of Thursday. In total, that amounts to about 4.5% total turnout for the county’s registered voters thus far.
In 2023, DuPage saw about 40,000 vote-by-mail ballots, along with nearly 22,000 early in-person votes – about half of the total ballots cast, according to data from the county.
Will County has received 17,068 ballots so far, according to numbers from the clerk’s office obtained Thursday morning. There were 7,083 ballots cast by mail and 9,985 from in-person early voting. That means just under 4% of registered voters have cast early votes. Of the county’s 453,563 voters, nearly 50,000 requested mail-in ballots.
In 2023, 75,686 ballots were cast in Will County – and nearly half came from in-person early voting and mail-in ballots, according to data from the clerk’s office.
Kendall County has received 1,226 ballots as of March 26 from its two early voting locations, the county office building in Yorkville and Oswego Village Hall, said County Clerk Debbie Gillette on Wednesday. In 2023, the county saw just over 2,000 early votes in person, and more than 6,000 by mail. Their numbers were lower in 2021, with 1,903 votes cast via mail or in-person early voting.
Kendall County did not have data on the number of mail-in ballots returned for the election as of Wednesday, Gillette said. For the April 1 election, they sent out just under 10,000 absentee ballots.
Local counties may be seeing lower numbers of mail-in ballots at this point than in 2023 because of the February primary election, Will County Clerk Annette Parker told The Beacon-News in an email on Thursday. In Will County, for example, Parker said certifying the primary results meant the clerk’s office had to wait until March 12 to print ballots, and did not send them until March 17. Typically, mail-in ballots are sent 40 days before an election.
The April 1 election features a number of contested races in the Fox Valley, including the race for mayor of Aurora between incumbent Richard Irvin and Ald. John Laesch, as well as several contests for seats on the Aurora City Council.
In addition to contests for mayor and village board and city council seats in the Fox Valley, there are also races for seats on school boards, library boards, park boards and more in the area on the April 1 ballot, as well as a few referendum questions.
Kane County opened early voting on March 7 at the county clerk’s offices, and opened a number of other sites on March 17. A full list of the sites and hours is available at https://clerk2.kanecountyil.gov/Elections/Documents/EARLY%20VOTING%20POSTER%20-%20APRIL%202025.pdf. Early voting is open until March 31, according to a press release from the clerk’s office.
In-person early voting runs through March 31 in DuPage County, with a full list of sites available at https://cms5.revize.com/revize/dupage/Election/Documents/Candidate%20Information/Candidate%20Listings/2025CE/2025CE%20EV%20Location%20Listing%20(Alpha)%20-%20DRAFT.pdf.
In-person early voting also began in Will County on March 17 and is open through March 31 at some locations, which can be found on the clerk’s website. Voters can also head to the polls early in Kendall County – through March 26 at Oswego Village Hall and through March 31 at the Kendall County office building, according to the county clerk.
Voting in-person sooner rather than later is encouraged, said Kane County Clerk John Cunningham in a phone call with The Beacon-News, saying he anticipates lines forming at polling places on March 31, the last day of early voting.
As for mail-in ballots, March 27 was the last day registered voters could request one, according to the local clerks’ offices. Ballots sent by mail must be postmarked no later than April 1.
mmorrow@chicagotribune.com
