News Item: The Illinois House has approved an amended bill making election day November 3, 2020, a state holiday and expanding voting by mail. The bill also includes a variety of safety measures for in-person voting. The bill now goes back to the Illinois Senate for a vote. Some key details, which only apply to the 2020 general election:

• Requires county election officials to mail or email vote-by-mail ballot applications by Aug. 1 to any voter who cast a ballot in 2018, 2019 or 2020, as well as voters who registered or changed addresses after the March primary.
• Requires the secretary of state to send a notice by Sept. 15 to people who received an application to vote by mail but have not yet returned it.
• Allows local election authorities to add curbside voting, so that voters can drive up, be handed a ballot and fill it out in their cars.
• Makes Nov. 3, 2020 a state holiday to be observed by state offices and schools.
• Allows citizens as young as 16 to be able to be election judges. Students — in both high school and college — will be notified of their eligibility to be a judge, as would people who are unemployed.
• ·Allows election authorities to add secure mail ballot drop locations in addition to using the postal service.

For more information, see https://www.capitolnewsillinois.com/NEWS/illinois-house-advances-major-expansion-of-mail-in-voting

Note: The date for this Action Item has passed. See later postings for an update on this topic.

​The Illinois League of Women Voters (LWVIL) has asked that people contact their Illinois state legislators, by Tuesday May 19 or Wednesday May 20 am, to ask them to support Vote-By-Mail (VBM). An Action Item email from LWVIL Board President Allyson Haut and co-chairs of the Issues and Advocacy team said: 
 
"The Illinois General Assembly must negotiate a budget before the end of May. We know there will be serious cuts, but we also know that some increases are essential to ensure full participation in the November election and to meet basic needs of populations which have been hardest hit by the pandemic." 

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Below is a script you can use when contacting your state representative and state senator. They recommended that people email rather than call because this would be more effective in the current situation. The goal is to contact representatives before the special legislative session starts tomorrow. It will run May 20-22.

Suggested Script to use when calling or emailing legislators
I am calling Senator___ (or Representative _____) to request that s/he support sending a ballot to all registered voters in Illinois.  Voters should not have to choose between keeping themselves healthy or casting a ballot.  Funding should be included in the budget for all local election authorities to handle the increased response to vote by mail. 
 <your name> 
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Representatives for Champaign County are Representative Carol Ammons, IL House 103, Email: [email protected]; 
Representative Mike Marron, IL House 104, [email protected]; 
Senator Scott Bennett, IL-52, IL-52, Web: www.senatorbennett.com/contact-us; Senator Chapin Rose, IL-51, Web: www.senchapinrose.com/contact
More information about contacting legislators is at:  Contacting Your Representatives.
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