(The Center Square) – Some Illinois voters are going to vote early after they already requested a mail-in ballot, something the Illinois State Board of Elections says is causing “unnecessary paperwork for voters and election judges and creates delays at early voting locations.”

“A voter who requests and receives a vote-by-mail ballot but subsequently decides to vote in person must surrender the mail ballot at the polling place to receive an in-person ballot,” an ISBE bulletin said.

If someone attempts to commit voter fraud, by voting in person and by mail, they’re subject to a class 3 Felony.

“While Illinois election authorities began mailing vote-by-mail ballots on Sept. 24 to voters who had requested them, many of those voters also showed up to vote in person when early voting began on Sept. 24,” ISBE spokesperson Matt Dietrich said.

They’re “asking that voters who have already applied for a mail ballot allow sufficient time for the ballot to arrive.”

“The Election Code allows a voter who applied for but did not receive a vote-by-mail ballot to sign an affidavit and vote in person,” Dietrich said. “This is intended for situations in which the late delivery imperils the individual’s ability to cast a vote, such as a ballot that hasn’t arrived on or near Election Day.”

As of Friday afternoon, there were 1.9 million voters statewide that have requested vote-by-mail ballots.