Early Voting At The Montgomery County Clerk's Office
With Early Voting, you can vote before the observed Election Day by coming in-person to the Montgomery County Clerk's office. (Do not go to your Polling place, as they will only be open for voting on the observed Election Day.)
Early Voting makes casting your ballot convenient, since you can vote when it fits your schedule.
See the “Early Voting Period” dates in the left hand column for specific dates.
Early voting must be done in-person at the Early Voting Room in the Basement of the Historic Courthouse:
Montgomery County Clerk & Recorder
#1 Courthouse Square
Hillsboro, IL 62049-0595
The early voting room is located in the
basement of the Historic Courthouse. (Use the west side street level entrance to enter.)
You can not be mailed a ballot to vote early. You can only be mailed a "Vote By Mail" ballot. The ballot you receive when voting is the same whether voting by mail, early or at the polling place on Election Day. If you vote early, you can not vote again on Election Day at your polling place.
If you are registered* to vote in Montgomery County, Illinois, you are eligible to cast a vote by mail ballot.
As of January 1, 2010, no excuses are necessary for you to vote by mail.
*If you registered by mail without providing identification and will be voting for the first time, you are not eligible to vote by mail. You may vote in-person at the County Clerk's Office or may vote early.
In addition, the following unregistered voters are eligible for a vote by mail ballot:
Members of the Armed Forces or Merchant Marine and their spouses and dependents whether serving in the United States or abroad;
U.S. citizens and their spouses or dependents, whose permanent residence is in Montgomery County but who will be temporarily residing abroad on Election Day;
U.S. citizens (not their spouses or dependents) who maintained a residence in Montgomery County immediately prior to their departure from the United States.
The vote by mail balloting process:
1.Get an application for vote by mail ballot or contact the County Clerk's office by phone at: (217) 532-9530, and an application will be sent to you
2. Fill out and send application for vote by mail ballot to the County Clerk’s office by mail
3. Receive vote by mail ballot packet
4. Return vote by mail ballot packet*
5. Ballot ready to be processed by County Clerk staff on or before Election Day.
*Vote by mail ballot packets must be complete. They are often returned because the application is not signed, the application is not included, no signature on certification envelope, ballot not in certification envelope.
To download forms, you must have Adobe Reader installed on your computer. If you do not have it, click the button below to install a free copy.
The Montgomery 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 Mail Ballot, certification 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 vote by mail ballot packet, follow all instructions on how to vote and return the ballot to the County Clerk's office. Your vote by mail ballot 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 by 7pm when polls close.
Personal Delivery of My Ballot
A spouse or direct relative (parent, child, brother or sister) can deliver your vote by mail ballot to the Montgomery County Clerk’s Office ONLY IF you fill out the following authorization form for personal delivery:
To download forms, you must have Adobe Reader installed on your computer. If you do not have it, click the button below to install a free copy.
Military/Overseas Voters*
Members of the Uniformed Services and their family members or U.S. citizens residing overseas whose last known address is in Montgomery County and wish to vote by mail may do so by completing and mailing an FPCA (Federal Post Card Application)* to Montgomery County Clerk's Office, P.O. Box 595,
Hillsboro, IL 62049-0595. By completing this application, you will automatically be sent a vote by mail ballot for elections held in that calendar year.
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.
Hospitalized Voters
If you enter the hospital 14 days or less before an election, you can have an absentee ballot delivered to you. Contact our office at 217-532-9530 to find out more.
How do we process a voter’s vote by mail ballot?
The voter fills out the application and sends it to us.
We enter the vote by mail application into the voter registration system.
We send the voter the vote by mail ballot packet with instructions.
The voter votes the ballot and seals it in the ballot certification 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.
Either County Clerk staff or Election Judges open the sealed ballot envelope and verify voter's signature.
The ballot is fed into a Ballot Tabulator.
After the polls close on Election Day the vote by mail ballots are tabulated.
Preliminary vote by mail ballot results are reported to the public as part of the precinct results after the polls close on Election Night.
People who miss the deadline to register to vote may still vote in the election if they:
register to vote, after showing proper ID, in-person at the County Clerk’s Office. (See the "Grace Period Registration” dates in the left hand column for specific dates.)
and then VOTE AT OUR OFFICE AT THE SAME TIME AS REGISTRATION.
Note: In order to grace period vote (regardless of if this is a new registration or an address update) the voter MUST show a Photo ID with current address. If the Photo ID has the wrong address then in both cases the voter would need to ALSO bring in a piece of mail sent to them at the new address. In the case where the ID has the wrong address, they MUST show BOTH Photo ID and a piece of MAIL!
If you are planning to cast your ballot on Election Day, you must do so at your designated polling place. Your voter registration card lists your township, precinct number and location of your polling place.
If you need assistance determining your polling place, you can go to the: Illinois State Board of Elections website and search for your polling place by typing in your name and zip code. This will determine if you are registered to vote and if so, will display your polling place's name and address. Or you may call our office for assistance (217) 532-9530.
