Please support legislation to make Election Day Registration permanent in Illinois and available at every polling location.
Why is this important?
Election Day Registration allows eligible residents to register or update their registration and cast a ballot on Election Day.
This fall, Illinois voters had the opportunity to use Election Day Registration for the first time. It was a success: thousands of Illinois voters who otherwise could not have voted were able to.
Election Day Registration this fall was a pilot program which means that unless the Illinois Legislature acts, we will revert back to arbitrary deadlines that prevent eligible Illinois voters from exercising their right to vote.
Election Day Registration increases voter turnout. Illinois voter turnout rates are second-lowest in the Midwest. Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa all offer Election Day Registration. In the 2010 midterm election, about 10 percent of the total votes were cast by voters registering on Election Day in these three states.
The great demand for Election Day Registration was demonstrated by the long lines at some Chicago registration sites. To make the Election Day Registration more efficient and accessible, it should be available in all polling locations, rather than in a limited number of sites like it was this fall.
Illinois PIRG
