FILE – In this March 17, 2020, file photo, hand sanitizer and stickers are set up at a polling station in Chicago. ( James Foster/Chicago Sun-Times via AP, File)

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Ballots have started going out in Illinois for what appears to be the wildly popular option of voting by mail in the Nov. 3 election.

Officials started mailing ballots Thursday to what the Illinois State Board of Elections says is a record 1.82 million applicants thus far. Legislation adopted in the spring in response to the coronavirus pandemic ensured widespread publicity for the practice. In-person early voting also began Thursday in much of the state. Ballots may be cast at designated polling places in each jurisdiction.

Early voting starts Oct. 1 in Chicago and Oct. 7 in the rest of Cook County.