Editorial: The Supreme Court protected states' rights. But Illinois is out of whack on mail-in voting

Chicago Tribune Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune on Jul 1, 2026

Published in Op Eds

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It’s settled now. States can count mail-in ballots after Election Day if postmarked by that day.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s opinion for the majority in Monday’s 5-4 ruling on vote-by-mail was straightforward. In interpreting federal law, the opinion read, “The electorate’s choice is made when voting is complete, not when ballots are received.”

That’s the right approach to this thorny issue. States oversee their elections within the confines of federal law, which sets a date for each national election. So long as voters decide by that date, states should have the flexibility to determine the different ways in which those eligible can vote and how much time should be allowed to receive their votes.

But that’s not to say that states should take too much advantage of this flexibility. Illinois unfortunately is a perfect example of a state that does just that. Too much delay causes conspiracy theories to fester and undermines voters’ trust.

The Land of Lincoln provides up to two weeks after Election Day for mail-in ballots to make their way finally to election boards. Only one state, Washington, has a more liberal policy, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. It allows for 14 days after a primary and up to 21 days after a general election.

The remainder of states dominated by Democrats provide for shorter time frames to receive mail-in ballots, and some impose an Election Day deadline. The latter include Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont and Colorado.

Even Alaska, where mail service is more challenging than virtually any other state, provides just a 10-day grace period after Election Day.

Thirty-six of 50 states require mail-in ballots to be in hand on Election Day in order to count. Among them are all of the states surrounding Illinois, including Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota.

In response to the Supreme Court decision, Democratic Party leaders in Illinois were triumphant. Just one example: “In Illinois, we are focused on maximizing voter participation — not voter suppression,” Attorney General Kwame Raoul said in a statement.

Encouraging people to vote — and making it easier for them to do so — indeed are laudable goals. But common sense shouldn’t be simply ignored. There’s a price to be paid when election outcomes aren’t determined for weeks.

Chicago and Cook County, in particular, are susceptible. The sorry legacy of machine politics and manipulation — manifested in jokey cliches like “vote early and often” — help propel these narratives, even if the level-headed among us don’t believe that type of corruption remains prevalent in our election apparatus.

There’s a simple way to address the issue: There should be no more than a week for mail-in ballots to land at election boards. That’s the standard in California, New York and Oregon. In New Jersey, it’s six days. In Massachusetts, it’s just three.

Illinois isn’t a battleground state, so our hyper-flexible mail-in rules typically aren’t an issue in presidential elections. But in state and municipal elections they certainly can be.

Just two years ago, 11 days elapsed before Eileen O’Neill Burke declared victory in her primary contest with Clayton Harris III for Cook County state’s attorney. Over the anxious days awaiting an outcome, a spokesperson for the Chicago Board of Elections failed to disclose the existence of more than 9,000 mail-in ballots that had in fact been received by Election Day and was chagrined to have to do so days later. It was a simple error, but the race was so close that bad memories of past shenanigans were triggered.

At the time, we called on state Democrats to reduce the time for mail-in ballots to trickle in. It’s only a matter of time, we argued, for another hotly contested race like that one to be kept in limbo for too long, unnecessarily fraying nerves and fueling suspicion.

With the Supreme Court now having ruled that states indeed can call their own shots on this question, Illinois should strike a blow for common sense and act in the interest of fostering more confidence in our voting system.

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