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Voter Registration
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Upcoming Elections
March 19, 2024 - General Primary Election
November 5, 2024 - General Election
- Am I Registered to Vote?
- Register to Vote
- When Do I Re-register?
- Voter's Certificate of Registration Card
- Cancelling a Voter Registration
Voter registration allows qualified voters to participate in the electoral process and exercise one of their most basic rights.
Illinois does not have a political party registration system. However, in a primary election, you must select one political party ballot to vote or request a non-partisan ballot (public questions only) if available. You have the freedom to change your party choice in each primary election.
Verify your voter registration status on our Voter Power page.
While voter registration is open, you can register in-person, online, or by mail.
In-Person
You can register in-person at:
- The Lake County Clerk’s office, 18 N. County Street, Waukegan during weekday business hours,
- The Illinois Secretary of State Driver Services Facility when there for other services,
- Most municipal or township offices,
- Most libraries,
- Precinct committeepersons, or
- Qualified civic organizations.
Find a location in our brochure, Official Places of Voter Registration or look for a poster at a municipal building, library, or deputy registrar event.
Online
Online voter registration is available at Illinois State Board of Elections’ website (ova.elections.IL.gov) until 16 days prior to any election in Illinois.
You must provide:
- Valid Illinois Driver’s License or Illinois State ID number,
- Last four digits of Social Security number
- Date the license or identification was issued, AND
- Your birth date.
By Mail
Completed applications must be postmarked or delivered to the Lake County Clerk’s office 28 days prior to Election Day. If your identity cannot be verified or sufficient proof of identity is not provided with your application, you must vote in-person the first time and present valid identification before a ballot is issued.
Mail-In Voter Registration Form - Click here for an English Voter Registration Form to complete and print for mailing. A Spanish Voter Registration form can be found here.
Grace Period Registration
After deputy registrar and mail-in voter registration closes, Grace Period Registration is available and allows you to update your record or register for the first time.
You must:
- Meet citizenship, age, and residency voter registration requirements,
- Provide two forms of valid identification (Both identification documents must have current name, and one must show current physical Lake County Street address), and
- Vote at the time of your registration.
Grace Period Registration is available at:
- The Lake County Clerk’s office, 18 N. County Street, Waukegan during weekday business hours through Election Day.
- Any early voting site when open. Use our locator tool to find a convenient early voting site or the assigned Election Day voting site serving your current address.
To register to vote you must:
- Be a United States citizen,
- Be at least 18 years of age on or before the next election (17 year old residents may register and vote in primaries if 18th birthday occurs on or before date of the next general or consolidated election),
- Live in your election precinct at least 30 days immediately prior to an election,
- Not be convicted and in jail, and
- Not claim the right to vote anywhere else.
Two forms of identification are required to register through a deputy registrar, both showing current name and one showing current physical Lake County street address.
If you need to update your record or register for the first time, voter registration is open all year except for the 27 days preceding an election, and it reopens the second day following an election. After voter registration closes, Grace Period Registration begins 27 days before any election, and you are required to vote at the time of your registration.
Form to complete online, print, and mail to the Lake County Clerk's office.
You need to re-register or update your registration when you move, change your name or wish to update your signature. There is no party registration in Illinois, so you do not need to re-register if you wish to change your choice of political parties. You will only need to select a political party when requesting your ballot in a primary election.
Change of Name
Should you change your name by marriage, divorce, or other legal name change, you must re-register under your new name and provide the new signature on your registration record.
Change of Address
If you move within Lake County, you must provide written notification of your new address and sign the request:
- Mail notification including your name, old and new address, date of birth and your signature or,
- Complete the back of your Voter's Certificate of Registration including your signature.
If you move to Lake County from another county or another state, you must complete a new registration application.
The Lake County Clerk's office is required to verify the accuracy of the voter rolls. This is accomplished by mailing notices to confirm voters reside at the address on file.
Signature Update
To update or revise your signature you can re-register to vote. Options to do so include:
- Register online with through the State Board of Elections’ website at https://ova.elections.il.gov/. If you have an Illinois Driver’s License or Illinois State Identification card, you can register online and they will pull the signature from their Driver’s License or State ID.
- Complete a mail-in application and mail it back to our office. The form is available at:
- Register to vote in-person with a deputy registrar with two forms of ID: both with the voter’s name and one with their current address. Locations with deputy registrars can be found here and acceptable identification information can be found here.
The Voter's Certificate of Registration Card is your informational source for determining where to vote and your congressional, state senate, state representative and county board districts.
You are not required to present your voter card in order to vote early or on Election Day, though it is helpful as a quick reference tool for your correct precinct number and voting districts.
If you are registered with your correct name and address, you can log onto LakeVoterPower.info to print a personalized card.
The Lake County Clerk receives monthly death notices from the Illinois Department of Public Health for deaths that occur the month prior in Illinois.
If a person is registered to vote in Lake County, Illinois, his/her record is cancelled from this notification. If the death of a Lake County resident occurs outside of Illinois, a family member may send to the Lake County Clerk a copy of the death certificate.
An Authorization to Cancel Voter Registration may be completed if
- the voter no longer resides in Lake County, Illinois, or
- wishes to be removed from Lake County's voter rolls.
Return the completed Authorization to Cancel Voter Registration form to the Lake County Clerk.
Mailing address:
Lake County Clerk
Voter Registration Services Department
18 N. County St., Room 101
Waukegan, IL 60085
Fax:
847-984-5827
Email:
[email protected]