voting and elections

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General Election Day - November 5, 2024

Municipal Primary Day - February, 25, 2025

Municipal Election Day - April 15, 2025

You can always stop by the Stephenson County Democrats office in Freeport, IL, during open hours and register in person. If you prefer to register online, click here.

• You must be a United States Citizen.
• You must be 18 on or before the date of the General or Consolidated Election.
• You must live in your election precinct at least 30 days prior to Election Day.
• You must not be serving a sentence of confinement in any penal institution as a result of a conviction.
• You may not claim the right to vote anywhere else.

If you think that you may already be registered to vote, you can check by using the State Board of Election's Voter Registration Lookup.

Remember:

Identification is not required to vote at the polls, although you will be required to verify your signature. HOWEVER, if you registered to vote by mail and did not submit any ID with the registration, you must show a form of ID to vote.

Acceptable forms are:

• A current and valid photo ID
• Utility bill
• Bank statement
• Government check
• Paycheck
• Lease or contract for residence
• Student ID and mail addressed to voter's residence
• Government document

PERMANENT VOTE BY MAIL: If you are a registered voter in Illinois, you may fill out this form to be added to a permanent vote-by-mail list. NOTICE IT SAYS PERMANENT AT THE TOP. Print out the form and take it or mail it to: Stephenson County Clerk, 50 W. Douglas St., Suite 500 Freeport, IL 61032. (Fifth Floor)

VOTE BY MAIL PER ELECTION: Every qualified registered voter in the County is mailed a notice asking if they want to Vote by Mail THIS election. Here is a form to fill out. Print out the form and take it or mail it to: Stephenson County Clerk, 50 W. Douglas St., Suite 500 Freeport, IL 61032. (Fifth Floor) THIS FORM DOES NOT SAY PERMANENT AT THE TOP.

Once the Clerk's Office receives your request, they will mail you a ballot. If you wish to do this, it's best practice not to wait and get your request in early. 

Clerk's Office: Call for questions at 815-235-8289 

Democrat's Office: or call our office at 815-801-5760 and we can help you. 

Here is the Illinois law that governs Vote by Mail.

The Stephenson County Democratic Party feels it's crucial to have qualified Democratic Election Judges at every polling place during elections in our County. Many of the Election Judges that have been available in the past, are older and not able to be available the long hours any longer. Here's a link to learn more about Election Judges' Duties and Responsibilities. 

If you would like to know more and to volunteer for these crucial positions in our County Elections, please call the Stephenson County Democrats at 815-801-5760.

In addition, here's a link to the 2018 General Election Judge Training. presented by the Illinois State Board of Elections. New updated training will be available for upcoming elections. If you are interested, please call the number above or email.

A poll watcher is a representative of a candidate, political party, civic organization, or proposition who is legally in the polling place to observe the conduct of the election.

To be a poll watcher in Stephenson County, the poll watcher must be registered to vote in Illinois. To be a Democratic Party Poll Watcher, you must have credentials given to you by the Chair of the Party.

A poll watcher must surrender a signed credential to the judges of election upon entering a polling place. After a credential has been surrendered to the judges in a precinct, a poll watcher may leave that precinct and return, without presenting an additional credential. However, if a poll watcher monitors multiple precincts, the poll watcher must present a credential at each of those precincts where the poll watcher plans to monitor.

If you are interested, please call 815-801-5760 or email.

Here is a link to the PDF listing polling places in Stephenson County kept up to date by the County Clerk. Polling locations can change, so please check before Election Day. 

Here is a link to the Stephenson County Election page website. It is chocked full of various links to past election results, maps, Grace period voting, Absentee voting, What to do if you live in a Nursing Home, etc.