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The statute in
question, passed in late 2014 by the Democratic-led legislature
and enacted in early 2015 by former Democratic Governor Pat
Quinn, for the first time allowed Election Day voter
registration, including at polling places.
But the section of the law pertaining to polling place
registration applied only to counties with populations of
100,000 or more.
The Chicago-based Liberty Justice Center believes that
population threshold unconstitutionally discriminates against
voters in Illinois’ less populated counties and also gives a
boost to Democrats in heavily Democratic Cook County, home to
Chicago and birthplace of Democratic presidential nominee
Hillary Clinton.
“It hardly seems coincidental Democratic candidates tend to do
better in high-population counties, and Republican candidates do
better in low-population counties,” said Jacob H. Huebert,
senior attorney for the group.
Huebert said his group will seek an injunction against
polling-place registration for the Nov. 8 election.
Huebert’s organization was founded by the Illinois Policy
Institute, which keeps its donors secret. Republican Governor
Bruce Rauner publicly has acknowledged giving the Illinois
Policy Institute at least $500,000 over a period of years.
State Senator Don Harmon, a Democrat from suburban Chicago and
the law’s chief Senate sponsor, said Illinois law commonly
differentiates between counties' populations and said election
officials in less-populous counties voiced concern about not
having resources for polling place registration.
Under the law in question, voters in smaller counties can still
register on Election Day in county clerks' offices.
Harmon suggested the lawsuit’s real aim is to dampen Democratic
voter turnout this fall, particularly in party strongholds like
Cook County. In 2015, there were 4 million residents in the
county above the voter-eligible age of 18, according to the U.S.
Census.
In the March presidential primary, 1.4 million votes were cast
from Cook County, nearly 80 percent of which were Democratic,
state records show.
“I suspect the plaintiffs are much more interested in having
same-day registration thrown out in Cook County than they are in
extending it to every small county in Illinois,” Harmon said.
Thirteen states, including Illinois, allow qualified residents
to go to the polls or an election official’s office to register
before or on Election Day, according to the National Conference
of State Legislatures.
(Reporting by Dave McKinney; Editing by Tom Brown)
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