Illinois
Illinois proposal calls for expanding vote-by-mail
As the 2024 election season draws near, voters in Illinois will once again choose whether they want to cast their ballots in person or by mail.
But one lawmaker is proposing a bill in the Illinois House that could make that decision a lot easier, making voting by mail the default option for people in counties and cities that choose to go that route.
State Rep. Carol Ammons, D-Urbana, said voting by mail has been shown to be a more convenient and efficient way of running elections.
“Vote-by-mail has been proven by way of court order, as well as people’s utilization of vote-by-mail – I vote by mail – that it has been safe,” she said during an interview. “There have been no problems. I have not missed a single election. And people who use it increase their voter participation.”
Voting by mail, often referred to as absentee voting, was originally intended for people who planned to be away from home on Election Day, particularly military personnel, as well as college students and people whose jobs required them to travel. That often required voters to ask their state or local election official for an absentee ballot and, in some cases, explain why they wanted to vote by mail.
In more recent years, Illinois and other states have made voting by mail an option for anyone by adopting “no-excuse” absentee voting laws, meaning anyone could request a mail ballot without giving a reason.
Illinois also gives voters the option of asking to be placed on a permanent vote-by-mail list so they can automatically receive a mail-in ballot without having to fill out a new request for one each election cycle.
And in 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the General Assembly passed a law requiring local election officials automatically send vote-by-mail applications to every voter in their jurisdiction, instead of requiring voters to ask for one.
During a special meeting of the House Ethics and Elections Committee Wednesday in her hometown of Urbana, Ammons said voting by mail has become increasingly popular. But she said the multi-step process of voting by mail is still inefficient because it requires voters to fill out and send in a vote-by-mail application to receive a ballot.
“But when we went back to look at the utilization of the ballots, the number that came back, and the cost associated with mailing a ballot, we realized as we talked to other jurisdictions that you would actually save the money if you simply mailed them the ballot,” she said.
Ammons is the sponsor of House Bill 4198, which would allow county clerks and other local election authorities to make voting by mail the default option in their jurisdiction. It would give them the option of mailing ballots to all registered voters in their jurisdiction, without requiring voters to ask for one. But it would still require local election authorities to offer in-person voting as well for those who prefer to cast their ballot in person.
Currently, eight states and Washington, D.C., operate elections almost entirely by mail. William Cavecche, an election administrator in King County, Washington, which includes the city of Seattle, said that state passed a similar law in 2005 and immediately, two-thirds of the counties in the state shifted to vote-by-mail systems.
“Speaking to someone who has run both polling-place elections and vote-by-mail elections, I can tell you from experience that vote by mail elections are significantly easier to administer,” he said.
Among other benefits, Cavecche said, in a vote-by-mail election, there is no need to worry about problems that commonly occur at in-person polling places such as running out of ballots, voting machines breaking down or poll workers failing to show up.
He also said vote-by-mail elections are more secure because all ballots can be counted in a centralized location. He said ballot counting can also be livestreamed on the internet to provide more public transparency.
Wednesday’s meeting was a subject matter hearing, meaning the committee only heard testimony and did not take action on the bill. But Rep. Maurice West, D-Rockford, who chairs the panel, said he intends to hold additional hearings during the upcoming legislative session, which begins Tuesday, and it’s possible lawmakers could vote on the measure in time to take effect for the 2024 general election in November.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government. It is distributed to hundreds of newspapers, radio and TV stations statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, along with major contributions from the Illinois Broadcasters Foundation and Southern Illinois Editorial Association.
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Recent polls show President Donald Trump’s approval ratings continue to dip as the war in Iran endures and national gas prices float above $4.
One such poll conducted by CNN/SSRS illustrates widespread upset among Americans with regards to Trump’s handling of the economy and inflation. Here’s how Trump’s approval ratings look nationally and within Illinois, as of April 20.
Donald Trump approval rating: CNN
Only 31% of Americans approve of how Trump is handling the economy, compared to 39% in January 2026, according to the poll.
The decline in approval on the issue is even higher among Republicans, especially Republicans under 45 years old, according to CNN.
In the poll, President Donald Trump received his worst approval rating yet in either of his two terms on the economy.
CNN findings show about two-thirds of Americans say Trump’s policies have worsened economic conditions, and 27% say they approve of Trump’s handling of inflation.
CNN also reported 63% of Americans say the prices at the pump have caused financial hardship in their household, including 15% calling it “severe.”
The poll, conducted March 26-30 among 1,201 U.S. adults, found 35% approve of Trump’s job performance overall. The poll’s margin of error is plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.
One poll respondent told CNN and the pollster about the most important issue facing the country: “Prices! Everything is so expensive. Makes it very difficult to do anything other than work and go home. Trips to the grocery store are ridiculous! Between gas and grocery prices, we are poor!”
Trump addressed the concerns about gas prices in his address to the nation on April 1, saying the Strait of Hormuz would reopen when the conflict was over and the prices would fall again.
Trump reaffirmed his promise about the strait on April 18, saying his administration had “very good conversations going on” with Iran after the country said the strait would not be reopened.
Donald Trump approval rating in Illinois: Civiqs
Trump’s job approval rating in Illinois, as of April 18, according to data from online survey platform Civiqs, is as follows:
- Approve — 32%.
- Disapprove — 65%.
- Neither — 4%.
Donald Trump national approval rating: Civiqs
Trump’s national approval rating as of April 13, according to data from Civiqs, is as follows:
- Approve — 39%.
- Disapprove — 57%.
- Neither — 4%.
Donald Trump approval rating in Illinois: The Economist
Trump has a -36% net approval rating in Illinois as of April 20, according to data from The Economist.
Donald Trump national approval rating: The Economist
Trump’s national approval rating as of April 20, according to data from The Economist, is as follows:
- Approve — 38%.
- Disapprove — 56%.
- Don’t know — 7%.
Trump, Iran War approval rating: Pew Research Center
A Pew Research study conducted in mid-March found that about six-in-ten Americans (61%) approve of Trump’s handling of the conflict in Iran, with 39% approving.
A report released in early April found that the largest concern for most Americans as a result of the conflict is higher gas prices, with 69% saying they are “extremely” or “very” concerned about the issue.
Other Trump approval rating polls as of April 20
Here is a look at some other polling aggregators to understand how CNN/SSRS’s poll compares to the average Trump approval numbers as of April 20:
RealClearPolitics Poll Average: 41.2% approve, 56.6% disapprove.
The New York Times: 40% approve, 56% disapprove.
Silver Bulletin: 39.7% approve, 56.4% disapprove.
Which president has the lowest approval rating ever?
Although Trump has dropped to a historic low in approval rating polls this term so far, he hit a 34% low in the first term and other recent presidents such as Joe Biden hit a 36% low, Barack Obama hit a 40% low, George W. Bush hit a 25% low and Bill Clinton hit a 37% low, according to the Gallup polls, whose recorded lowest rating was Harry Truman with 22%.
As for the highest presidential approval ratings, George W. Bush holds the highest approval rating ever recorded at 90%, while his father, George H. Bush holds the second highest at 89%.
Trump is the only president that has not reached a 50% or higher approval to date in the Gallup polls’ history.
CENTRALIA, Ill. – An investigation is underway after multiple people were shot Sunday in Centralia, Illinois, according to a report from WFCN News in southern Illinois.
FOX 2 has confirmed the Illinois State Police is investigating a shooting and taking over the investigation, but ISP could not confirm many further details as of 9 p.m. Sunday.
“The investigation is in its infancy and to protect the integrity of the investigation, no additional details will be released at this time,” ISP said in a statement to FOX 2.
According to WFCN News, the shooting happened around 5 p.m. near the 900 block of East Kell Street in Centralia. Multiple law enforcement agencies have since responded to scene and multiple victims are hospitalized, according to the report.
It’s unclear how many people may have been injured and what led up to the shooting.
Centralia, Illinois is about 70 miles, or just over an hour, east of St. Louis.
This is a developing story. FOX 2 will update as more information becomes available.
The National Weather Service has teams of storm surveryors in the field April 18 investigating several reports of severe storms and tornado touch downs across eastern Iowa, northwest Illinois and northeast Missouri.
According to the weather service’s website, windgusts of up to 60 to 70 mph along with teacup-sized hail and several tornadoes were reported April 17.
Many homes and outbuildings were damaged, trees were uprooted and power lines were downed in Lena, Illinois, where the most significant damage occurred, the site pointed out.
Very strong winds also were reported near Washington, Iowa, and Colmar, Illinois, where several outbuildings and grain bins were destroyed.
The weather service received reports of confirmed and possible tornadoes in the areas of Lena, Pecatonica, Shirland, Rockton, Roscoe and Capron.
The teams will be assessing damage this weekend into next week along with county emergency management teams to determine what types of storms occurred and their paths.
Dozens of power outages were reported, as well.
As of the afternoon of April 18, ComEd was reporting 85 active power outages across northern Illinois, down from 241 on April 17, and 6,751 customers affected, down from more than 18,000.
The bulk of those outages and the most customers impacted are concentrated in Jo Daviess and Stephenson counties.
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