SPRINGFIELD – Anyone who cast a ballot in the last three years or who registered to vote or changed addresses after the March primary will be sent an application to vote by mail after Gov. JB Pritzker signed a bill expanding the program Tuesday.

In a news release, Pritzker’s office said the program is aimed at ensuring “safe and active participation in the 2020 general election during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.”

Pritzker signed Senate Bill 1863 and House Bill 2238, which also expands early voting hours at permanent polling places and makes election day a state holiday.

Local election authorities must mail or email the applications to voters who cast a ballot in the 2018 general election, the 2019 consolidated election or the 2020 general primary election, as well as voters who registered or changed addresses after the March primary. Any eligible voter who submits an application by October 1 will receive their ballot by October 6.

“Sending vote-by-mail applications to residents who have participated in recent elections will allow more people to exercise that right from the safety of their own homes and help reduce the spread of COVID-19 in our communities,” Pritzker said in a news release.

The changes were backed by the House Democratic Women’s Caucus and sponsored by Rep. Kelly Burke, D-Evergreen Park, in the House and Sen. Julie Morrison, D-Lake Forest, in the Senate.

“The COVID 19 pandemic has created many challenges, but participation in the November election should not be one of them,” Burke, an assistant majority leader in the House, said in a statement. “Just as we have taken precautions to make shopping, traveling, and other everyday tasks safer, we must also take precautions and make adjustments to ensure everyone can safely exercise their right to vote.”

Republicans, however, have argued that the program is susceptible to fraud.

In Illinois Senate floor debate last month, Republicans raised questions on costs, input from county clerks, the security of collection sites and automatic sending of ballot applications.

Sen. Paul Schimpf, R-Waterloo, argued the bill creates a system with “significant” costs that are unnecessary given that Illinois already allows any citizen to vote by mail. He added it would also place a “significant burden” on local election authorities, whom he also argued have not been able to offer enough input.

The Illinois State Board of Elections filed a fiscal note saying that if the bill’s provisions are fully implemented by every local election authority, it would eat up every dollar of the more than $16.7 million the state will receive from the federal CARES Act for elections.

The legislation also requires the Illinois State Board of Elections to: post an application for a vote by mail ballot on its website; allow a new registrant to apply for a vote-by-mail ballot when completing the online registration; provide notice to election authorities about compliance with the new law; and adopt emergency rules to provide reimbursement for expenses related to the 2020 general election incurred as a result of COVID-19 and the new requirements.

The legislation also raises the standard for rejecting a vote-by-mail ballot by requiring local election authorities to appoint a bipartisan panel of three election judges to verify voters’ signatures and the validity of the ballot. Previously, only one election judge made this determination.

Also per the new laws, permanent branch polling places are required to be open from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the weekends and holidays for early voting. Curb-side voting, allowing voters to fill out the ballot outside of the polling place, will also be permitted.

Completed vote-by-mail ballots can be returned at new collection sites, which HB 2238 requires to be locked and opened only by election authorities.

The legislation also requires local election authorities to establish a central voting site where anyone who lives in the jurisdiction can vote, regardless of precinct.

The new laws take effect immediately and only apply to the 2020 general election.

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By BEN ORNER
Capitol News Illinois
borner@capitolnewsillinois.com

SPRINGFIELD – A major expansion of voting access for the 2020 general election is headed to the desk of Gov. JB Pritzker after the Illinois Senate overwhelmingly passed the measure Friday.

After more than an hour of floor debate, the upper chamber passed Senate Bill 1863 by a 37-19 party-line vote. Three Democrats – Jacqueline Collins, of Chicago, Robert Martwick, of Chicago, and Pat McGuire, of Crest Hill – did not vote. The bill, which Pritzker has said he supports, expands mail-in voting for the Nov. 3 general election in anticipation of social distancing and other restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic that will make in-person voting more challenging.

The bill requires Illinois’ local election offices, by Aug. 1, to mail or email vote-by-mail ballot applications to any voter who cast a ballot in 2018, 2019 or 2020, as well as voters who registered or changed addresses after the March primary.

Bill proponents estimate 4.8 million people will receive applications. The bill also states that by Sept. 15, the secretary of state must send a notice to people who received an application but have not yet returned it.

Completed ballots would be returned via mail or in new “collection sites,” that would consist of boxes placed in locations at the discretion of local election officials.

As for voting in person, the bill would allow local election authorities to implement curbside voting, in which voters can drive up, be handed a ballot and fill it out in their cars.

SB 1863 would also expands the existing Election Day a state holiday for state employees to include public schools and universities, but only for the 2020 election.

The collection site and curbside provisions are optional for local clerks. They would also have the option to facilitate early-voting hours for people with certain health conditions.

Among the issues that Republican senators raised to state Sen. Julie Morrison D-Lake Forest, the bill’s lead Senate sponsor, were costs, input from county clerks, the security of collection sites and ballot applications being sent automatically and in some cases by email.

State Sen. Paul Schimpf, R-Waterloo, took issue with a provision that allows citizens as young as 16 to be election judges. Morrison said that is to make up for an expected decrease in elderly judges, many of whom did not show up during the March primary because of safety concerns.

“We lost a great number of experienced election judges who are retired and older people who quite simply have a great deal of hesitation now in performing those election duties that they’ve enjoyed for so many years,” Morrison said. She added it is also an “excellent way for us to engage the younger generation in our government.”

Schimpf also argued the bill creates a system with “significant” costs that are unnecessary given that Illinois already allows any citizen to vote by mail. He added it would also place a “significant burden” on local election authorities, whom he also argued have not been able to offer enough input.

The Illinois State Board of Elections filed a fiscal note saying that if the bill’s provisions are fully implemented by every local election authority, it would eat up every dollar of the more than $16.7 million the state will receive from the federal CARES Act for elections.

House sponsor Rep. Kelly Burke, D-Evergreen Park, however, said during floor debate on Thursday that ISBE’s estimate is “extremely generous” because she does not expect every election office to implement every provision.

Voting on legislation has been different for the Senate during this week’s special session as lawmakers practice social distancing. Senators have had to come to the floor in groups of 10 to vote, a process that takes slightly longer.

Pritzker threw his support behind SB 1863 on Thursday, saying during his daily briefing that it balances voting access with available resources.

“I’m very much in favor of making sure that everybody gets a ballot who is eligible to vote and then returns that ballot,” he said.

The measure passed the House of Representatives 72-43 on Thursday evening after a nearly three-hour debate that featured Republicans grilling Burke. Multiple GOP representatives expressed their concerns over the collection box system, for example, which Rep. Lindsay Parkhurst, R-Kankakee, argued could lead to voter fraud.

“There’s not enough checks and balances, there’s not enough security, there’s not enough integrity to this ballot-harvesting drop-box system,” she said.

To address security concerns related to the optional collection sites, Senators passed House Bill 2238 on Friday before debating SB 1863. That trailer bill would, among other things, require collection boxes to be locked and opened only by election authorities. It also requires ISBE to establish additional guidelines.

The trailer bill will need to be passed by the House in order to go to the governor’s desk.

SB 1863 applies to only this November’s general election.

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