County Clerk Lisa Fancher announced effective February 2nd, a new election law will take effect. Public Act 95-699 requires that voters be notified when they have undervoted. It is your right to undervote for any office, and that right has not changed.
However, now if you undervote or overvote for any race, your ballot will be kicked back and you will see on the LCD screen, which is located on the voting device, the races you overvoted or undervoted. An undervote, for this purpose, is defined as a completely blank voted race only. This allows you to correct your ballot, if your undervote was not intentional. If you inadvertently overvoted, you can have your ballot spoiled and receive a new one. If you wish to have your ballot accepted as is, an election judge will assist you in activating the override button and your ballot will be returned through the device and counted. ONLY OVERVOTED races will not be counted.
Election Judges are well trained and attend classes prior to every election. They are there to assist you. This law is in no way a suggestion or recommendation that you vote for all offices. If you choose to undervote one or more offices, all other validly cast votes will be properly counted.
If you should have questions concerning any of this, please feel free to contact us at the County Clerk’s Office at 815-432-6960.
Thank you for your patience in the implementation of this new law.
