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Early voting opens: View the 2026 Capitol News Illinois Election Guide

SPRINGFIELD — Early voting is open in Illinois and election authorities can begin mailing ballots to voters.

Capitol News Illinois is once again launching its Election Guide that includes resources to help Illinoisans learn how, when and where to vote, how to register and what statewide races are on the ballot.

View the Election Guide

This year’s guide will also contain a rundown and link to our coverage of all Illinois’ statewide races, from U.S. Senate to governor, attorney general, comptroller, treasurer and secretary of state. We’re in the process of booking the candidates for interviews in all those races and will update the guide with coverage as the races progress.

The guide contains a lookup tool to help get in touch with your local election authority. It also includes instructions on how to register to vote, either online at ova.elections.il.gov through Oct. 18 or in person through Oct. 6, after which time a grace period begins. Illinoisans can also register on Election Day. More information is available in the guide.

For early voting, the Illinois State Board of Elections maintains a list of nearly all locations and their hours. For the Nov. 3 general election, early voting for most Illinoisans began Thursday.

While most can vote at their local election authority’s office, the rules are different in Chicago, where early voting begins on Sept. 24 at two downtown locations, a supersite at 137 S. State St. and the Board of Elections Office at 69 W. Washington St. Voting will be available at more locations beginning Oct. 19. Visit the county clerk’s office for specific early voting locations and times outside of Chicago, as they’re available.

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation. 

This article first appeared on Capitol News Illinois and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Jerry Nowicki is bureau chief of Capitol News Illinois and has been with the organization since its inception in 2019.