In Illinois, elections for each jurisidiction are administered by the local election authority. Illinois has 110 election authorities - 101 county clerks, eight municipal boards of election commissioners, and one county board of elections (DuPage).

In odd-numbered years, the local election official (municipal clerks, township clerks, school board secretaries, and secretaries of special districts) performs election duties (receives nominating petitions and objections, certifies the ballot to the election authority, etc.) for their respective units of government. The Local Election Official's Handbook is a reference publication designed to assist local election officials with the conduct of the election process.