Illegal Ballot Selfies and Vote By Mail Q&A

Now that Early Voting and Vote By Mail have begun for the November 6th Midterm General Election, there have been some additional voting information stories in the news this week. Did you know it was a felony to take a selfie with your ballot? How to request a mail in vote ballot? From the News-Gazette recently:

The selfie that can land you in an Illinois jail
...
Snapping a photo of your filled-in ballot and posting it on Facebook or Instagram is technically a Class 4 felony in Illinois, which comes with a prison sentence of one to three years. According to the Illinois Election Code, anyone who "knowingly" casts his or her ballot in a way that "can be observed by another person" is breaking the law.

While more than a dozen other states also forbid the ballot selfie, Illinois appears to be the only one where the "offense" is clearly classified as a felony. But it seems no one on record has been arrested for it.

So why is this still on the books?

The intent behind the law is pretty straightforward. These sorts of rules are meant as a firewall against vote buying: Show me a photo of your ballot, I pay you.

Of course, there are already plenty of other laws in Illinois that explicitly outlaw vote buying.

More at the full article here. There was also a quick explanation of the process of voting by mail for most voters from Tom's Mailbag this week:

Vote by mail request
"Can a person request a ballot via email? At what email address, or is it strictly visiting the county to request a ballot? Or can it be done by phone? We usually get an email reminder but so far nothing."

You didn't say where you live but in Champaign County you can request a ballot application through the county clerk's website (https://www.champaigncountyclerk.com/elections/vote-by-mail-reside), by phone (384-3724) or by email (mail@champaigncountyclerk.com), said County Clerk Gordy Hulten.
Using the form on the clerk's website is the preferred method, Hulten said.
It's important to realize, though, that requesting the ballot is just a first step.
"Once we get an email or a phone call, we generate an application that they have to sign," he said. "It just starts the process so we can send them that and eventually the ballot."

 More information on Vote By Mail at the County Clerk's website here and Early Voting here.