Elections board says it will follow state, federal law on mail-vote
decision
[September 05, 2026]
By Sean Reed | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – As the fate of vote-by-mail in states across the
country and the federal government’s allowed involvement rests in the
hands of multiple court cases, Illinois election officials said nothing
has changed for voters, and they plan to follow all state and federal
laws.
Judge Indira Talwani, in the U.S. District Court for the District of
Massachusetts, issued an order last week blocking the U.S. Postal
Service from requiring unique barcodes on mail-ballot envelopes and
lists of voters who requested ballots.
President Donald Trump’s administration requested Thursday the Supreme
Court to lift that temporary order.
Plaintiffs in another lawsuit before the judge are seeking an injunction
further blocking the USPS rules through the election.
“A temporary restraining order runs out on Sept. 10, and we are urgently
seeking a preliminary injunction that would block these unlawful
mandates through the Nov. 3 election,” read a Massachusetts ACLU
statement Thursday.
Ed Yohnka, director of public policy for the Illinois ACLU, told The
Center Square that they believe the federal government shouldn’t have a
place in running elections.
“State and local authorities run elections, not the federal government.
The United States Postal Service has never managed an election and is
not really qualified to put together some resource and some list in 60
days in order to oversee the upcoming election. That's the job of state
and local election officials,” Yohnka said.
Illinois Board of Elections Spokesman Matt Dietrich said voters
shouldn’t be too concerned about the status of mail-ballots at this
point.
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A ballot drop box in Sangamon County, Illinois. Photo: Greg Bishop /
The Center Square
“As far as voters are concerned, nothing is changing in Illinois
regarding the process for applying for a vote-by-mail ballot. And we
are, at this moment, on schedule to send out vote-by-mail ballots on
September 24th, as required under state statute,” Dietrich said.
He noted that the board is keeping close watch on the federal court
cases, noting Illinois is a plaintiff on one of them. He said the
concern should instead be had by elections authorities, not voters.
“As far as we're concerned, regardless of the outcome of these
cases. We are going to work with the 108 local election authorities
in Illinois to make sure that they are in compliance with all
relevant federal and state laws,” Dietrich said.
The Chicago Board of Elections in a statement reflected Dietrich and
said it is “continuing with business as usual, until further
notice.”
Dietrich said elections authorities in the state are largely keeping
an eye on the new USPS rules, and many are already in compliance
with parts of the rules like ballot envelope design regulations.
Both Yohnka and Dietrich said that voters still concerned with
mailing their ballots could return them in other ways, including
ballot drop boxes or directly returning them to their local
elections authority’s office.
Andrew Rice contributed to this story.
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