More Than One Million Absentee Ballots Requested In Illinois

Vote-by-mail ballots are shown in sorting trays, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2020, at the King County Elections headquarters in Renton, Wash., south of Seattle. Never in U.S. history will so many people exercise the right on which their democracy hinges by marking a ballot at home. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

A lot of people in Illinois are planning to vote absentee this year. The Illinois State Board of Elections on Friday said more than one-million people have requested an absentee ballot for the November election. That is triple the number of people who voted absentee in the 2016 presidential election. Local election officials are scrambling to make changes to accommodate the flood of ballots through the mail.