Absentee Voting
Who is qualified to vote absentee?
If you are registered* to vote in Madison County, you are eligible to cast an absentee ballot.
As of January 1, 2010, no excuses are necessary for you to vote absentee.
*If you registered by mail without providing identification and will be voting for the first time, you are not eligible to vote absentee by mail. You may vote absentee in person at the County Clerk's Office or may vote early.
In addition, the following unregistered voters are eligible to vote by absentee ballot:
- Members of the Armed Forces or Merchant Marine and their spouses and dependents whether serving in the United States or abroad whose permanent residence is in Madison County;
- U.S. citizens and their spouses or dependents, whose permanent residence is in Madison County but who will be temporarily residing abroad on election day;
- U.S. citizens (not their spouses or dependents) who maintained a residence in Madison County immediately prior to their departure from the United States.
The absentee balloting process
1. Get an application for absentee ballot2. Fill out and send application for absentee ballot to the County Clerk’s office
3. Receive absentee ballot packet
4. Return absentee ballot packet
5. Accept/return absentee ballot packet*
6. Ballot ready to cast on election day
*Absentee ballot packets must be complete. They are often returned because the application is not signed or the application is not included or no signature on affidavit or ballot not in official affidavit envelope.
Vote by Mail
You need an Application for Absentee Ballot.
Download it here, or email us
at
absentee@co.Madison.il.us, or call us at (618) 692-6290 for an application.
The Madison County Clerk's Office will need your name, residence
address, mailing address and date of birth at the time of
request. After we receive your application, a packet with the
ballot, Instructions for Voting by Absentee Ballot, certificate
envelope and a return mailing envelope will be mailed to you. Our
office will not mail ballots more than 40 days or less than five
days prior to the election.
When you get the absentee ballot packet,
follow all instructions on how to vote and return the ballot to the
County Clerk's office. Your absentee ballots by mail must be
postmarked by midnight on the day before the election and received
within 14 days after the election. If you personally deliver to the
County Clerk's Office, the ballot must be received no later than
Election Day. A spouse, parent, child, sibling, or a licensed
delivery service can personally deliver your ballot if the
authorization form is
completed by the voter and included with the ballot.
Absentee Voting in Person
Any qualified voter may cast an absentee ballot in person at the Madison County Clerk's office not more than 40 days or less than one day prior to the election. For more information, call the Absentee Department at 618-692-6290.
The Madison County Clerk's office and other offsite voting locations offer early voting to any registered voter. Early voting commences 22 days prior to an election and ends five days prior to the election.
Personal Delivery of my Ballot
A spouse or direct relative (parent, child, brother or sister) can deliver your absentee ballot to the Madison County Clerk’s Office ONLY IF you fill out the following authorization form for personal delivery:
ABSENTEE BALLOT DELIVERY AUTHORIZATION FORM (PDF)Military/Overseas Voters*
Members of the Uniformed Services and their family members or U.S. citizens residing overseas whose last known address is in Madison County and wish to vote absentee may do so by completing and mailing an FPCA (Federal Post Card Application)* to Madison County Clerk's Office, P.O. Box 218, Edwardsville, IL 62025. By completing this application, you will automatically be sent an absentee ballot for one calendar year.
Click here for more information and the FPCA form.
Nursing Home Voting
The County Clerk’s Office provides election judges to conduct in-person absentee voting to (registered) residents at those facilities who wish to vote. Voters must be a permanent resident registered at the nursing home address.
Disabled Voters
Illinois State Statute requires voters who are permanently disabled to complete an Application for Absentee Voter's 5 Year Identification Card form* along with an Affidavit of Attending Physician* in order to automatically be sent an absentee ballot application for every election within 5 years after we receive the application.
Click here*
for an application, fill out the first page and have your doctor fill out the second page and mail it to:
Madison County Clerk
P.O. Box 218
Edwardsville, IL 62025
*These forms must be notarized
Hospitalized Voters
If you enter the hospital fourteen days or less before an election, you can have an absentee ballot brought to them. Contact our office at 618-692-6290 to find out more.
How do we process a voter’s absentee ballot by mail?
For the status of your absentee ballot or request click here.- A voter requests an application for absentee ballot
- We send the voter an application with instructions
- The voter fills out the application and sends it to us.
- We enter the absentee application into the voter registration system.
- We send the voter the absentee ballot packet with instructions.
- The voter votes the ballot and seals it in the ballot envelope.
- The voter provides the sealed ballot envelope to us with applicable affidavits in the mail envelope provided.
- We receive the mail envelope and log receipt in the voter registration system.
- We keep the ballot in the sealed envelope until Election Day.
- On Election Day, election judges open the sealed ballot envelope
- The ballot is scanned into the absentee ballot system.
- After the polls close the scanned ballots are tabulated.
- Preliminary Absentee ballot results are reported to the public as part of the precinct results after the polls close on Election Day.
