CHICAGO (WLS) — Illinois Democratic Party leaders are raising concerns about the possibility of some mail-in ballots not getting postmarked on time for the primary election and not counting. It comes with Election Day now just eight days away.

Leaders are urging voters not to wait until the last minute to send them in, as this is the first election where new postal processing procedures could impact mail-in ballots. And because those ballots have to receive a postmark by Election Day in order to be considered valid, Democratic Party leaders are issuing a warning to voters on Monday.

Early voting has become a popular option for many people, and even more are now taking advantage of being able to vote by mail. But late last year, changes at the United States post office, in their transportation operations, added delays in the time between when mail is picked up and when it is actually postmarked at a processing facility.

"Meaning, if your ballot is mailed too close to the Election Day, it could be marked as late, and your vote will not count," said Democratic Party Chairwoman and Illinois state Rep. Lisa Hernandez.

Democratic leaders gathered across the street from the early voting site at 69 West Washington, asking people to mail in their ballots no later than 5 p.m. on Tuesday.

"So, our message today is simple: Plan to vote, make sure the people in your life understand the changes in mail-in ballots, because we can’t afford to lose votes simply because people don’t know that the rules have changed," said Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle.

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The post office previously said it was just good common sense for people to mail in their ballot a week before Election Day, just to make sure it gets postmarked on time.

Illinois State Treasure Mike Frerichs noted that when he was elected in 2011, late arriving absentee ballots were what gave him the victory.

"And if you don’t put your votes in early, it could make a difference in a race like mine. A race as big as statewide was decided by less than one vote per precinct in this state," Frerichs said.

Other options include taking your mail-in ballot right to the post office and requesting a postmark at the counter or dropping it off at least one day early at any secure ballot box at an early voting site.

Laurel Spindel dropped off her ballot on Monday afternoon, having recently learned of the changes in the postmark process.

"It didn’t necessarily impact why I dropped it off today, but just in general, dropping it off at the drop box, as opposed to the post office, I thought would be more kind of secure, and I knew it would get there," Spindel said.

None of the Democratic leaders had an estimate of how many ballots potentially might not count due to a late postmark, but the Chicago Board of Elections says for perspective, it does receive tens of thousands of mail-in ballots either on Election Day or in the days immediately following.