St. Clair County adds 1K new voters ahead of IL primary election. Are you registered?

More than a thousand St. Clair County residents have recently registered to vote, and there is still time to make sure your voice is heard in Illinois’ Tuesday, March 19 primary election.

St. Clair County has seen 1,202 new voter registrations as of late January to kick off the presidential election year, county clerk Thomas Holbrook told the News-Democrat recently. East St. Louis has its own board of elections, so its numbers are counted separately.

With the primaries still more than a month away, Holbrook expects those numbers to increase and said registrations are trending at the expected rate for a primary election in a presidential election year. The 2020 primary election saw 2,304 St. Clair County residents register to vote.

There are 7,936,964 active registered voters in Illinois as of Feb. 5, the state board of elections reports, as well as an additional 811,433 inactive voters registered. A voter may be considered inactive for moving outside their jurisdiction without updating their voter registration.

Early voting begins Thursday, Feb. 8 in Illinois, and residents can double-check their voter registrations, update them or register to vote ahead of time.

The 2024 primary in Illinois will see a 12th Congressional District race between incumbent U.S. Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., and former state senator Darren Bailey, and voters will also select their choices for president and vice president, U.S. representatives, state senators, metro-east county officials and more.

Here’s what to know about registering to vote in Illinois and how to make sure your registration is up to date.

What local issues matter most to you as the 2024 election year begins? Let us know

How to register to vote in Illinois

Illinois residents who are eligible to vote may register online, in person at the election authority’s office, at driver’s license offices, with deputy registrars or through mail, according to the state’s board of elections. The paper application is available in Spanish and in English.

Other locations, including county clerks’ offices, schools and public libraries may also be designated as voter registration locations.

Eligible voters in Illinois must meet the following requirements:

• U.S. citizen

• 17 years old on or before the primary election date and turn 18 on or before general or consolidated election

• Live in your precinct at least 30 days prior to Election Day

• Must not claim a right to vote anywhere else

• Must not be serving a sentence of confinement in any penal institution as a result of a conviction

When registering to vote in person, you will need to bring two forms of identification, with at least one showing your current address.

If you are registering via mail, you will have to provide your driver’s license number or state identification number. If you do not have either of these numbers, you can fulfill the identification requirement by providing one of the following:

• The last four digits of your Social Security number

• A copy of your current and valid photo ID

• A copy of a current utility bill

• A copy of a bank statement

• A paycheck

• A government-issued document that has your name and address

Those who are registering or updating their registration online will need to provide their Illinois driver’s license number or state ID number, the last four digits of their Social Security number and the date their driver’s license or state ID was issued.

The deadline to register to vote in the March 19 primary election is Sunday, March 3 for online registrations and Tuesday, Feb. 20 to postmark a paper application.

Those who aren’t able to register beforehand can utilize Illinois’ grace period voter registration by going in person to a polling place on Election Day, registering and voting that day.

How to check your voter registration in Illinois

You can use the state’s online voter registration database to check your registration status. To see whether you’re registered, the site will ask for your first and last name, birth date and ZIP code.

If you check your registration and realize some of the information is out of date, you can update it online.