Lake Co. Announces Drop Box Locations For Nov. Election

LAKE COUNTY, IL — The Lake County Clerk's Office has joined a growing number of counties across the Chicago area and country that have installed drop boxes ahead of the November election. The change comes following an increased concern over how the U.S. Postal Service will handle expected record numbers of Americans voting by mail in November due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In recent weeks, operational changes within the USPS reportedly led to widespread mail delays, elimination of overtime for postal workers, carriers being instructed to leave mail behind and the decommissioning of mail sorting machines. This, coupled with the fact that the Lake County Clerk's Office is expecting more than three times the number of mail-in votes this year led to the push for drop boxes, Lake County Chief Deputy County Clerk Todd Govani told Patch.

"Once legislation passed to expand vote by mail, election authorities were given the option to use the drop boxes and we decided that voters may feel more comfortable dropping their ballots off instead of risking their ballots not being delivered due to postal issues," Govani said.

On Tuesday, the clerk's office released the locations of its drop boxes. Election judges will collect ballots daily from the drop boxes and bring the ballots to the clerk's office for processing, according to a news release from the clerk's office.

The first four drop boxes will be available for drop off ballots starting on Sept. 24 with 17 more available starting on Oct. 19. In addition, a handful of drop boxes will remain open on Nov. 2 and on Election Day, which is Nov. 3.

Here are the locations of the drop boxes that will be open 24 hours per day starting on Sept. 24. and continuing through 7 p.m. on Nov. 3:

• Juvenile Branch Court, 24647 N. Milwaukee Ave., Vernon Hills
• Mundelein Branch Court, 105 E. Route 83, Mundelein
• Round Lake Branch Court, 1792 Nicole Lane, Round Lake Beach
• Park City Branch Court, 301 Greenleaf St., Park City

These locations will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Mondays through Fridays and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays starting on Oct. 19 and continuing through Nov. 1:

• Antioch Township Office, 1625 Deep Lake Rd., Lake Villa
• Avon Township, 433 E. Washington St., Round Lake Park
• Ela Township Office, 1155 E. Route 22, Lake Zurich
• Fremont Township Office, 22385 W. Route 60, Mundelein
• Gurnee Village Hall, 325 N. O’Plaine Rd., Gurnee
• Highland Park Country Club, 1201 Park Ave., Highland Park
• Jane Addams Center, Bowen Park, 95 Jack Benny Drive, Waukegan
• Lake Barrington Village Hall, 23860 N. Old Barrington Road, Lake Barrington
• Lake County Central Permit Facility, 500 W. Winchester Rd., Libertyville
• Lake County Fairgrounds, 1060 E. Peterson Rd., Grayslake
• Lake County Main Courthouse Lobby, 18 N. County St., Waukegan
• Lake Forest City Hall, 220 E. Deerpath Rd., Lake Forest
• North Chicago City Hall, 1850 Lewis Ave., North Chicago
• Wauconda Township Office, 505 Bonner Road, Wauconda
• West Deerfield Township Office, 601 Deerfield Road, Deerfield
• William E. Peterson Park, 16652 N. Buffalo Grove Road, Prairie View
• Zion City Hall, 2828 Sheridan Rd., Zion

These drop box locations will be available from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Nov. 2:

• Gurnee Village Hall, 325 N. O’Plaine Rd., Gurnee
• Jane Addams Center, Bowen Park, 95 Jack Benny Dr., Waukegan
• Lake County Main Courthouse Lobby, 18 N. County St., Waukegan
• North Chicago City Hall, 1850 Lewis Ave., North Chicago
• Lake County Fairgrounds, 1060 E. Peterson Rd., Grayslake

And these locations will be available from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Nov. 3:

• Lake County Fairgrounds, 1060 E. Peterson Road, Grayslake
• Lake County Main Courthouse Lobby, 18 N. County St., Waukegan

Some of the boxes will be unattended but monitored by video surveillance that is recorded, according to information released by the clerk's office last month. Those drop boxes will be available 24 hours per day and permanently anchored in place once vote-by-mail gets underway on Sept. 24.

To find out more about how to vote by mail, visit here.

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