HR0682 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0682 LRB101 19646 LAW 69132 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The right to vote is a fundamental right that shall not be infringed; and

WHEREAS, This right has not always been freely and equally applied to all persons, and the history of this nation is awash in efforts to suppress voting rights on the basis of race, ethnicity, age, and economic status; and

WHEREAS, These efforts were renewed with particular virulence following the 2008 Presidential Election; and

WHEREAS, 25 states have implemented restrictions on free and equal access to voting since 2010, including the five states with the highest voter turnout rates in 2008; and

WHEREAS, 13 states have attempted to eliminate Election Day Registration, limit voter registration drives, and reduce opportunities for voters to register to vote; and

WHEREAS, Requiring voters to present a photo identification to cast a ballot disproportionately disenfranchises people who may not be able to afford time off from work to obtain such an ID in time to vote, work jobs with unconventional hours, are homeless, or are otherwise unable to access such identification; and

WHEREAS, Laws that strike voters from the rolls solely on the basis of non-participation disproportionately disenfranchise elder and less mobile voters, servicepersons, and others, essentially infringing voters' rights as punishment for their choice not to vote; and

WHEREAS, Closing polling places on college campuses and imposing restrictions on students seeking to exercise their right goes against the public policy of Illinois to foster the civic responsibility of each generation; and

WHEREAS, State and federal courts have routinely rejected laws attempting to limit early voting, student voting, and other suppressive tactics on the basis that they unconstitutionally infringed the right to vote; and

WHEREAS, Some states hide behind bureaucratic measures to limit voter registration; two examples are the Georgia Secretary of State refusing to process 53,000 voter registration applications, of which 70% were from African American voters and 80% of all the refused applications were from people of color, and North Dakota refusing to accept IDs from Native American or Indigenous voters; and

WHEREAS, On the assumption that those voters moved, Wisconsin is attempting to remove over 200,000 registered voters on the basis that some had not responded to a recent mailing from the Wisconsin Elections Commission, and the December court order to remove roughly 234,000 voters is currently on hold pending an appeal with the Wisconsin Court of Appeals; and

WHEREAS, Florida directly rebuffed the will of their own people by cutting back on the 2018 voter-approved restoration of voting rights to ex-felons; and

WHEREAS, Our Midwestern neighbors, including Missouri, Wisconsin, Indiana, Kansas, Iowa and Ohio, have limited the early voting and voting by mail options, cut polling place hours, and instituted photo ID requirements or requiring proof of citizenship to cast a ballot; and

WHEREAS, Voter suppression silences communities, groups, and persons and allows those in power to ignore their voices in the public arena; and

WHEREAS, 2.3 million Illinois voters ratified an amendment to the State Constitution in 2014 rejecting these discriminatory voter suppression tactics; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we condemn voter suppression efforts and support all efforts to protect the free exercise of the right to vote.