Illinois residents planning to vote by mail in the March 17 primary election are encouraged to get that ballot in the mail extra early.

The League of Women Voters of Central Kane County recommended Tuesday that those ballots be placed in the mail no later than March 10 to ensure they are postmarked and arrive in time for counting.

The organization “has complete confidence in the vote by mail process in Kane County and Illinois,” league Co-President Patti Lackman said at a news conference Tuesday outside the Batavia post office.

“Mail-in ballots are safe, secure and convenient,” she added.

Still, there’s been “quite a bit of public discussion” about ensuring those ballots are postmarked by Election Day, Lackman said.

What hasn’t been discussed as much, she said, is that the U.S. Postal Service made significant changes to how mail is postmarked and delivered.

Those changes can delay postmarking by one or two days, “but also made first-class delivery slower and less predictable,” Lackman said.

The voting rights organization’s recommendation is similar to that of McHenry County Clerk Joe Tirio. He suggests residents return their mail-in ballots 10 days before the Election Day cutoff.

For a ballot to count in Illinois, it must have a postmark by Election Day and must be delivered within 14 days of the election.

Why so early? Because the Postal Service has changed the service standard for First Class mail. For some addresses, delivery can take three to five business days and the Postal Service also lowered on-time performance targets to just 80%, she said.

Illinois is showing even slower numbers. In July through September – the most recent data available – mail service in the state underperformed when compared the rest of the county, with just 71.5% arriving in that five-day window, Lackman said.

The league members said they know of a letter mailed in Aurora that took 17 days to arrive in Batavia.

“That was an actual Christmas card, properly addressed, to one of our board members,” said club member Karen Brooker.

If not in the mail early, drop boxes are the next step.

“After March 10, mail-in ballots should be dropped off at approved ballot drop-off locations” to ensure they are counted, Lackman said.

In Kane County, there are indoor ballot drop boxes at the Kane County Clerk’s office in Geneva, the satellite office in Aurora, and Elgin City Hall.

A searchable list of ballot drop boxes, by county, is available on the Illinois State Board of Elections website.

All Illinois residents are allowed to vote by mail and do not need a reason to do so. However, unless residents ask to receive mail-in ballots permanently, they must request the postal ballots through their county clerk’s office prior to each election.

McHenry County officials have also alerted residents that the postal changes could also affect other time-sensitive mailings, like tax bills.