FROM:
Bonnie Cox,
President
Hilary Denk,
Vice President, I
ssues
Heather Cunningham, Issues Co-Chair
Sharon Alter, Vice President & Voter Service Co-Chair
RE: SB1933 - Automatic Voter Registration (AVR)
ACTION NEEDED:
During this session of the Illinois General Assembly both the Senate and the House unanimously passed SB1933:
https://goo.gl/GzUFiL. It is currently sitting on Governor's Rauner's desk.
Please call Governor Rauner's office (Springfield: 217.782.0244, Chicago: 312.814.2121) to ask him to sign SB1933 into law. The Governor has until Monday, August 28th to sign the legislation. PLEASE ACT NOW.
WHY IT MATTERS:
SB1933 was carefully crafted to improve the security and integrity of our electoral process, while saving money for state and local governments by streamlining our registration process; national experts were consulted to ensure compliance with federal law. Under SB1933, a system of automatic voter registration would be created where, using reliable information already in the state database, eligible citizens would be able to register to vote or update their voter registration status. When an eligible voter interacts with a state agency such as the Secretary of State for a driver's license, he or she would be automatically registered to vote unless she or he takes action to opt out. Verified information would then be sent on to local election authorities, who would handle the actual registration.
Here are some reasons to support automatic voter registration (AVR):
- AVR greatly expands access to voting. AVR promises to add many more eligible Illinois voters to the rolls, making it more likely they wll participate in elections, thereby strengthening our democracy.
- AVR makes our voter rolls more accurate and secure, by more frequently updating records when voters move, and by eliminating duplicate records. More accurate voter lists better ensure the integrity of our elections.
- For many of the same reasons AVR is more accurate, it is also more efficient and over time will save taxpayers a significant amount of money.
