Frequently Asked Questions

Where you vote depends on where you live and where you are registered to vote. If you are a student living in the residence halls and are registered to vote in DeKalb County, you'll vote at the Barsema Alumni and Visitors Center. For last minute changes in polling place, check the DeKalb County Clerk's website.

If you are currently living off-campus in an apartment and are registered to vote in DeKalb County, you may vote at a different location. You can look up your polling place by inputting your ZIP code (DeKalb's ZIP code is 60115) and street address.

To decide where you should vote, consider where you feel more connected and informed.

If you're not voting for the first time in Illinois, you don't need to provide ID to vote in person.

If you registered to vote by mail, are voting for the first time, and didn't provide your driver's license number, state ID number, last 4 digits of your Social Security number, a copy of a current and valid photo ID, a utility bill, bank statement, paycheck, government check, or other government documentation that shows your name and address, or a student ID and mail postmarked to you at your residence, you'll need to provide one of these when you vote in person during early voting or on Election Day.

An absentee ballot allows you to vote by mail and is available to you if you are unable to vote in person on Election Day. If you plan to vote by absentee ballot, you will need to make sure that you apply to receive your absentee ballot by your state's deadline.

Your state may require you to have a valid excuse to vote absentee. Acceptable excuses vary by state. Most include:

• Being unable to get to your polling place due to illness, injury, or disability.
• Being on business travel or vacation outside of your county or city of residence on Election Day.
• Being a student at an out-of-state college or university.

This National Conference of State Legislatures table shows which states require an excuse.

You can request an absentee ballot by visiting vote.org. In order to obtain an absentee ballot, you will need to know in which state and at which address you are currently registered to vote. Follow your state's instructions for requesting an absentee ballot.

No, you must be a U.S. citizen in order to vote.

Out-of-state students can request an absentee ballot from their home state.