@earthling1 sample ballots appearing in newspaper or somewhere to help prepare for in person voting, so you could research what you needed to before you got in line. But once you have done mail in ballot, you don't want to go back to voting booths.
This year, postage is not necessary. That will help with turn out. I suspect.

Vancouver,Wa.
We have the same setup. Plenty of time to go over the candidates record and qualifications.
You make a great point re; being prepared before you even get to the booth. Voting by mail is so much better than in person. The Lazy Boy way of voting, fer sure!
And it nullifies the issue of armed yahoos showing up at the voting site.
They get cold standing around by themselves. Ha ha.

@Pricknick

This one will pass as it's unapposed by any legal or law enforcement agancies.
Constitutional amendment to require a search warrant to access a person's electronic data and electronic communications.

@edg do you get that you can routinely vote no? Are they all tax increases? Nice that the county provides some voter information, assuming it is good information.

We get all sorts of ballot measures. There aren't many this year, probably partly because of the difficulty of collecting enough signatures to get on ballot with Covid.

One amends the State constitution to allow laws limiting campaign contributions and expenditures. Another vastly increases taxes on all sorts of nicotine. One legalizes psilocybin. A local one allows a water treatment pipeline under a certain park. That's a sampling.

We received a thick booklet from the county. And I think one from a voter's organization. There were a few ballot initiatives. I routinely vote no on those, except I voted yes on the Marijuana question. There were about 25 or 30 judges running, with the only option being to keep them. I skipped all of them since I have no idea who they are and felt no interest in research. I was tempted to put myself as a write-in candidate for several offices but didn't.

@The Voice In the Wilderness clarify things. But many don't take the time. I have a neighbor all shook about an initiative that would place a small tax on large employers according to their payroll. This guy is self-employed, no employees and having a fit about it. Whether for or against it, and what the money is to be used for, it is not going to tax him. My guess is he doesn't read any of the other things on his ballot either.

I hope your state's voters make good decisions after doing a little checking. I always get suspicious when there are a lot of ads about a given measure and do a little research. It usually takes only a little to figure it out.

Only thing there worth voting for. The Illinois Constitution says that the state can only have a flat income tax. You would think this would be a no brainer. But th3e rich are pouring the airwaves with very good ads about how this amendment raises taxes on ALL Illinoisans (no, that's the current law), and gives the legislature the power to tax retirement income (no, they already have that power, they just don't choose to exercise it). Then there are the soap opera commercials. They drag an old lady on screen who sobs she will have to sell her home and leave the state if the "Tax Hike Amendment" passes. Well, seeing as how the specific legislation waiting for this only raises taxes on incomes above $400K, I say "Good Riddance!" Misinformation, outright lies, very slickly written, professionally produced and saturating the airwaves.
The other shoe is that Dems have a bill ready to raise all income taxes from 4.95% to 5.95% (IOW all actual tax bills by 20%) if the initiative fails. But that's not in any ads. My own selfish reason for voting for this amendment is that the state might start taxing pensions if it fails. It's an interesting situation. I'm told that there is a Federal law that a state can't tax Federal pensions unless they tax their own pensions. BUT there is a State Supreme Court ruling that State pensions are a contractual payment that the state may not cut or tax. Which makes it seems like the state can't tax either state or federal pensions without breaking either state or federal law. What's left? Private pensions, IRA withdrawals, and Social Security. The average SS payment is what? $1500? So lets start taking 6% or $90 a month away from people already below the poverty line. Nah. I can't buy that.

Two years ago I ran TurboTax for Alabama instead of Illinois. My Illinois tax is always zero because all my income is retirement income and not taxed. (Last year I actually had %5,000 taxable income, wages, from a decade old union grievance settlement, but after standard deduction and allowance for property tax, I got a refund of the whole $100 withheld). Alabama has a progressive income tax! And I would pay $460 instead of zero. A fair exchange since it seems like my property tax would fall from $6,000 a year to $800 a year on a comparably priced property. It's sad the Scarlet Red Alabama has fairer taxes than deep blue Illinois.

Lots of confusion about the ads. my wife asked me about the two amendments we will be voting on. Two? I checked. no there is only one. But the ads sound like two totally different amendments, the FAIR tax Amendment (cute, huh?) and the Tax Hike Amendment.
While I suspect we will all get a tax hike and the $400,000 definition of rich will quickly become something like $80,000 (the amendment has no hard numbers, just allows different rates for different income levels, I'm not Uncle Scrooge. I do have pity on waiters, and store clerks which seem to be the only jobs available in an area where all real manufacturing has gone to China. I can eat hamburger rather than steak to insure that some other working person doesn't go to bed hungry. Go get the bastards eating Filet Mignon instead of sirloin or round steak.

ADDENDUM: "Responsible" republicans say the state should tighten their belt. Belt the state has a Constitutional requirement to pay their bills (nursing homes are failing and closing their doors because of non-payment by Medicaid) and pay their pensions. R's are always saying the state should retroactively cut their pensions (sounds like (R) four flushers doesn't it?) but courts have repeatedly said they CANNOT do that. Previous administrations borrowed to pay current pensions and now the state's bond ratings are in the toilet.

Beyond that the ballot has the usual collection of politicians whose pictures should be on WANTED posters, like everyone here's favorite Dick Durbin and Come-with-cash Biden. Also Howie Hawkins, some Libertarian dude and Willie Wilson on the WillieWilson Party ticket just in case Biden and Trump aren't insane enough for you.

As I've said, I intend to vote for all Greens on the ballot, the amendment and )R) elsewhere just to give the finger to the party that thinks they own me. And for two judges. A supreme Court judge that has angered the Republicans, but my no-legally trained mind can find no fault with the decision that angered them, and a Cook county judge that angered Her Heinous II States attorney Foxx of Jussie Smolett infamy. So he wouldn't let the prosecutor drop a case on Foxx's say-so. An armed robbery. Good for him.