National Voter Education Week Aims To Prepare Chicago Hts. Voters

CHICAGO HEIGHTS, IL — The upcoming National Voter Education Week offers residents of Chicago Heights another opportunity to get prepared for the next election.

The weeklong event, to be held Oct. 4-8 in 2021, helps voters “bridge the gap” between registering to vote and actually casting a ballot, according to the website for the National Voter Education Week initiative.

“During this week of interactive education, voters have the opportunity to find their polling location, understand their ballot, make a plan to vote in person or remotely, and more,” the initiative’s description reads.

Now in its second year, National Voter Education Week comes as many states have revised voting laws in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic and on the heels of a 2020 presidential election that saw a record number of early voters.

Nearly 1 in 5 states, passed restrictive election laws following the election that tighten absentee voting windows and impose new rules on casting ballots and running elections. Illinois did the opposite.

Following the 2020 election, nine states passed legislation that sponsors say improves election security. Critics, however, say the legislation makes it harder for people to vote.

In Kansas, one law effectively shuts down voter registration drives by making it a felony to impersonate an election official, according to a National Public Radio report, a standard that could depend entirely on mistaken impressions. In Montana, state lawmakers eliminated Election Day voter registration.

The Illinois General Assembly passed legislation earlier this year modifying the election and municipal code that its Democratic supermajorities aimed at expanding access to the ballot across the state. Senate Bill 825, passed on both chambers in a nearly party-line vote, with State Rep. Anthony DeLuca (D-Chicago Heights) the lone Democrat voting against, and was signed into law by Gov. J.B. Pritzker on June 17.

The bill makes Election Day 2022 a state holiday, allows voters to sign up for permanent vote by mail status, allows election authorities to establish curbside voting during early voting or on election days, requires high schools to provide students with voter registration information and permits all sheriffs to set up polling locations at county jails, which already happens in Cook County.

The legislation also allows people with felony convictions to hold elected municipal office if granted a restoration of rights by the governor, restricts local governments from requiring that state legislators resign their seats in Springfield in order to hold elected office, and moves next year's primary election from May 15 to June 28, 2022.

Last month, state lawmakers passed an updated Democrat-backed redistricting map that establishes new state House and Senate districts using recently released data from the U.S. Census Bureau, but legislators have not decided on new congressional district boundaries. For the first time, Illinois is losing a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Hearings are expected later this month on how to draw up the federal maps.

National Voter Education Week organizers have outlined a simple step to take each day that aims to develop residents from unregistered voters to citizens well-informed about what’s on their ballot.

• On Monday, Oct. 4, the initiative stresses the #VoteReady hashtag, urging people to register to vote or check their registration status.
• Tuesday brings the #MailReady step, when people can request a mail-in ballot.
• On Wednesday, it is #VotePlanReady, in which people can make their plans to vote.
• #BallotReady comes Thursday, when the initiative urges registered voters to learn about what’s on their ballot.
• And Friday brings it back to #VoteReady, with the initiative calling on people to “level up your voting engagement.”

Registering to vote in Illinois is simple. The Illinois State Board of Elections offers an online voter application, as well as a voter registration lookup to check if you are already registered to vote.

You can also register to vote directly on the National Voter Education Week website.

Just under one-third of people who voted in the 2020 presidential election did so in person after states expanded mail-in balloting and early voting due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.

In fact, 2020 was the first time in the history of the survey that a majority of voters did not cast their ballots in person on Election Day.

While new laws may have changed the landscape of mail-in voting, it’s important to know when you need to register by, as well as other key election deadlines in Illinois.

In Illinois, in-person "grace period registration" is available during the 27 days prior to an election for people who have not registered or changed their address. Illinoisans living abroad and military personnel can register using a federal postcard application, according to the Illinois State Board of Election.

Dates for early voting are expected to be announced by local election authorities in May.