News Clips

If you’ve been on the internet at all lately, you’ve probably seen the meme about Wisconsin’s primary: a gravestone embossed with the words, “I Voted.” The image is dark, but effective. As we have seen, holding elections during a pandemic is risky for voters and poll workers alike. In fact, several poll workers stationed in Chicago during Illinois’ earlier primary have since tested positive for COVID-19, including one who tragically died. That’s why a growing movement of advocates such as the Just Democracy Illinois coalition, which I chair, is demanding an expansion of vote-by-mail to avoid more tragedy in November. Vote-by-mail is a system dating back to the Civil War that allows people to cast a ballot from the safety of their own homes. Best of all, we know that it works: In the last two federal elections, roughly 1 out of every 4 Americans cast a mail ballot.

Common Cause Illinois Executive Director Jay Young got it right when he said, “The coronavirus pandemic was a stress test for our voting process here in Illinois, and it’s clear that we failed.”

“It has been a hectic and trying day,” said Jay Young, executive director of the advocacy group Common Cause Illinois. “We immediately began seeing problems principally around polling places where election judges had chosen not to show.”

“This lawsuit is really about trying to get the state to actually follow, not just the law that we passed but also other federal laws that are designed to protect voters,” said Jay Young, executive director of Common Cause Illinois.

"Unfortunately, the promise of voter modernization and inclusivity has not only gone unfulfilled, it now appears that even basic voter registration services are mishandled in disregard of repeated calls for transparency and accountability by non-partisan organizations in the state," says the lawsuit, filed by the Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Chicago, Change Illinois, Chicago Votes Education Fund, Common Cause Illinois, Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights and the Illinois Public Interest Research Group Education Fund.

“Unfortunately, the promise of voter modernization and inclusivity has not only gone unfulfilled, it now appears that even basic voter registration services are mishandled in disregard of repeated calls for transparency and accountability by non-partisan organizations in the state," according to the lawsuit.