Both houses pass election bill postponing 2022 primary to June
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[June 01, 2021]
By RAYMON TRONCOSO
Capitol News Illinois
rtroncoso@capitolnewsillinois.com
SPRINGFIELD – Lawmakers passed an omnibus
elections bill Monday that would push back the date of the 2022 primary
elections amid other major changes to the state’s election code.
The 156-page omnibus bill, an amendment to Senate Bill 825 filed by Rep.
Maurice West, D-Rockford, would also strengthen the state’s
cybersecurity surrounding elections and make Election Day a holiday
among other provisions.
The bill was filed Sunday night, passed the House 72-46 at about 6 p.m.
Monday, then passed on a partisan 41-18 split in the Senate at about 10
p.m. It will need only a signature from the governor to become law.

Election dates
Under the legislation, in 2022, early voting for primary elections would
start May 19 and Election Day would be moved to June 28. State primaries
are typically held in March. The dates for nominating petitions for
primaries would also change, with those seeking office being able to
circulate petitions starting Jan. 13. Congressional and judicial
candidates must have petitions filed by March 14.
The provision changing these dates is set to expire at the start of
2023.
“The state has always had a really long window between the primary and
the general, which makes the political season long and risky, negatively
affecting public policymaking,” West said to committee members Monday.
“Our proposal is to do this one-time change just to see how it works and
I think it will be beneficial to the state and then it can maybe be
something we keep, moving forward.”
The bill would also make the date of the general election, November 8, a
state holiday in 2022. It will be considered a legal school holiday, and
any schools closing due to the holiday would “be made available to an
election authority as a polling place for 2022 General Election Day.”
This provision would also expire at the start of 2023.
Mail-in-ballots
One provision would also create a permanent vote-by-mail list.
Under current law, voters must apply for a vote-by-mail ballot for every
election. While that process would continue, election officials would
also offer an application for permanent vote-by-mail status. The
application would allow voters choose to receive ballots for all
partisan-locked elections, non-partisan-locked elections, or both.
The legislation would have voters who apply to be on the list remain on
it until they request to be removed, change their registration or
register to vote in another county. A witness representing the Kane
County Clerk told the committee that county clerks receive death
certificates and notice of address changes and would remove voters from
the rolls in those instances as well.
The bill also tasks the Illinois State Board of Elections with looking
into the possibility of electronic vote-by-mail for voters with
disabilities. By the end of 2021, ISBE must submit legislation to the
General Assembly creating a method for disabled voters to independently
and privately mark a ballot using assistive technology.
Before submitting the legislation, ISBE must hold at least two public
hearings on the subject.
Municipal restrictions
The bill would also remove the ability of local governments to prevent
members of the Illinois General Assembly from also holding local office.
Under the statute, no local government could “adopt an ordinance,
referendum, or resolution” prohibiting a General Assembly member from
holding local office or requiring them to resign their legislative seat
in order to run.
Statutes restricting General Assembly members from holding local offices
that were put in place by counties and municipalities before Nov. 8,
2016 would be exempt from this provision.
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The provision targets cases like that of Calumet City
Democrat Rep. Thaddeus Jones, who won Calumet City’s race for mayor
in April while sitting as a member of the Illinois House.
Calumet City passed a referendum last year barring members of the
General Assembly and anyone holding an elected, paid office created
by the state constitution from running for local office. Jones filed
to run for mayor less than a month after local voters approved the
referendum.
The Illinois Supreme Court ruled in Jones’ favor in
March, after a local elections board and a Cook County Circuit Court
Judge disqualified Jones from running due to the referendum.
Cybersecurity
After high-profile cybersecurity breaches involving the Illinois
State Board of Elections and the attorney general’s office, the bill
would also require election authorities to beef up cybersecurity
measures including monthly vulnerability scans, risk assessment
every two years and use protection from the Department of Innovation
and Technology or a third-party vendor within one year of its
passage.
Attorney General Kwame Raoul addressed the April breach of his
office’s network earlier in May, telling lawmakers that federal
investigators were looking into the incident. A February audit
conducted before the attack had concluded his office lacked
necessary cybersecurity safeguards.
ISBE’s former executive director Steve Sandvoss, who has been on
leave since April, is set to resign on June 30 after being the
target of an online extortion attempt. While an internal
investigation on the extortion attempt was completed, ISBE and the
Illinois State Police have not released any details on the case or
the nature of the extortion.
According to that internal investigation, no voter data or ISBE
systems were compromised.

Jail polling stations
The bill also allows election authorities to create temporary
polling places in the jails of smaller counties.
Under current law, a county with 3 million or more residents –
which applies exclusively to Cook County – is required to make a
temporary branch polling place in the county jail, allowing
residents of that county who are in custody but have not been
convicted of the arresting offense to vote.
The election omnibus allows sheriffs in all other Illinois counties
the option of establishing a temporary polling place in their county
jail.
County reapportionment
In a move opposed by Republicans, the bill would allow counties to
use American Community Survey data from the U.S. Census Bureau for
their 2021 reapportionment processes.
Republicans have opposed the use of ACS data in Democrats’
redistricting efforts for state legislative maps. In both the House
and Senate, they questioned why the bill allows for ACS data when
the pushed back reapportionment date allows counties to use detailed
data from the 2020 Census, which will be released in August.
This story has been updated from a previous version to reflect the
bill's final passage.
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news service covering state government and distributed to more than
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