Ahead of the primary election deadline, Illinois officials are urging voters to return their mail-in ballots as soon as possible to avoid missing the March 17 deadline. The warning follows a U.S. Postal Service update to its Domestic Mail Manual clarifying that postmarks reflect when mail is processed at a sorting facility — not necessarily the day it is dropped off — a change that could affect how mail-in ballots are dated and counted in states that rely on postmarks. #election2026 #PrimaryElections #MailInBallots #VotingRights