Support the Voting in Jail bill

 

Photo courtesy of Chicago Votes

Interactions with the criminal justice system are preventing tens of thousands of Illinois citizens from voting. This includes the 20,000 currently detained in Illinois jails awaiting their trials. These people have not yet been convicted of a crime and are eligible to vote. But there is no mechanism for them to do so. It also includes the 30,000 released each year from prison, who are eligible to vote but may not because they think their past criminal conviction denies them that right. An estimated four million people in Illinois have a past criminal conviction. Many don't realize that they have the right to vote, don't know how to exercise that right, or lack information about how voting would benefit them and their communities.

That’s why we should all push for passage of SB2090, the voting in jail bill. This bill requires county jails and election authorities to create a process to ensure that people awaiting trial (who have not been convicted) can cast their ballots during elections. It also requires the Illinois Department of Corrections to provide a voter registration application and information on voting rights to all eligible citizens who have released from their custody.

This bill was drafted by Chicago Votes, the Illinois Justice Project, the Sargent Shriver Center on Poverty Law and the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois. It passed in the Illinois Senate and is currently in the Illinois House. This is a good time to contact your house representative and Governor Pritzker’s office and urge that SB2090 be approved by the house and signed into law.

Here’s a sample script:

My name is ______ and I am a voter from _____. I’m calling to urge you to support the full bill of SB2090, the voting in jail bill, because people not convicted of a crime and those who’ve served their time are legally entitled to vote, but they don't have access if they are in jail awaiting trial, and they often don't know their rights after they are released from prison. Democracy works best when all eligible citizens can vote, so please support SB2090. Thank you.

Click here to locate your Illinois Representative and get their phone number.

Call Governor Pritzker's office at 217.781.0244

(Note: Governor Rauner vetoed HB4469, so this is round two for SB2090.) 

There's also a bill in the Illinois House to encourage voting among those released from prison. HB2541 The Re-Entering Citizens Civic Education Act would provide re-entering citizens with non-partisan peer education about the voting process, government and current affairs within one year of their scheduled release.

This bill, sponsored by Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights, Just Democracy and Chicago Votes, has dozens of legislative co-sponsors and supporting organizations. Please call to support it, too. Here's a sample script:

My name is ________ and I am a voter from _______. I;'m calling to urge you to vote for HB2541, the Re-entering Citizens Civics Education Act. People who are given civics education before release from prison are more likely to integrate successfully into society, and less likely to return to prison. Also, they have the right to vote, but lack information about that right and how to vote. So please support HB2541. Thank you.