Is our democracy in danger? In the bestselling How Democracies Die, Harvard Professors Daniel Ziblatt and his co-author, Steven Levitsky, who spent two decades studying the breakdown of democracies in Europe and Latin America, write that they believe the answer is yes.
"Democracy no longer ends with a bang, in a revolution or military coup, but with a whimper---the slow, steady weakening of critical institutions, such as the judiciary and the press, and the gradual erosion of long-standing political norms." The keynote address is free and open to the public. Some of the other Summit events are also open to the public in addition to university staff, faculty, and students. To see information for all events and to register, go here: https://civiclife.illinois.edu/democracy-summit/ As of October 8, 2023, the Join and Donate pages on this website have been updated. It is possible now to process a new membership or a donation to the either online using a credit card or by filling out a paper form and sending a check.
Previously, online membership could be processed by credit card but donations could not. These pages are new and there may still be some minor changes to "shake out". We appreciate your patience. If you have any questions about using these new pages, please send an email to Website.LWVCC@gmail.com. WebTeam, LWVCC September 27, 2023: "Months ahead of the start of early voting for the 2024 primary election, Champaign County Clerk and Recorder Aaron Ammons made another push for voting by mail and is urging voters to have confidence in the safety of the election process.
“'You are more likely to be struck by lightning than you are to be struck by voter impersonation in our county,' he said Wednesday. ". . . A few other points Aaron Ammons said he wants voters to know:
A recording of the press conference is available on the Champaign County Clerk and Recorder's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ChampaignCountyClerk As of September 16, the voting information on this website has been redesigned and updated. Here's what's changed:
The Voter Ready team has developed a new promotional piece for anyone who wants a concise summary of what the League is and does in Champaign County. A bit larger than a bookmark, it's particularly useful for meetings where a single takeaway is needed. See the images below for the front and back of the promotional piece. To request printed copies for organizations you belong to, send a note to the team at VoterReady.LWVCC@gmail.com. Or download your own copy (in pdf format).
On July 18, the Illinois Supreme Court announced its decision today upholding the Pretrial Fairness Act and ending money bond in Illinois as of September 18.
For coverage of this decision, read the opinion here. The Coalition to End Money Bond released a statement regarding the decision. The League of Women Voters of Illinois served as a member of the supporting Illinois Network for Pretrial Justice. The source of this item is this article. The Illinois legislature recently approved a bill that among other changes "allows an individual to pre-register to vote on or after turning 16 years old, with the registration on file with the appropriate election authority until the individual reaches 18 years old."
The bill also "establishes a task force to study the feasibility of adopting a ranked-choice voting system in certain elections, requires proposed Constitutional Amendments to be published in a newspaper’s digital equivalent, requires curbside voting at vote centers . . . and creates the Security of Remote Vote by Mail Task Force." To see summaries of these and other changes, click on Senate Bill 2123 and scroll down to House Floor Amendment 4 and 5. This item was taken from the May 2023 version of the LWVCC newsletter. Please note that this article refers to the Municipal Election held Aprl 4, 2023 as a "consolidated" election.
Those numbers speak about the story on a county-wide level, but you can also look further into individual precincts. Such as “City of Champaign 09,” which covers Garden Hills; it had a 2023 turnout of 5.2%. Whereas the precinct “City of Champaign 22,” which covers an area near Kirby and Prospect, had a turnout of 35.8%. Other interesting examples are “Rantoul 1” with 23.7% and “Mahomet 1” with 26.3%. Attend the April 28, Civic Cafe on Friday April 28, 1:30 pm - 3:30 pm at the 300 Levis Faculty Center (919 W Illinois St, Urbana, IL 61801 ) Refreshments provided. Register in advance https://go.illinois.edu/CivicCafe. In 2022, the American Library Association (ALA), reported a record number of demands to censor library books. Access to literature that tells the story of human history, or inspires change, and compels us to action, is fundamental in a healthy democracy.
Join Dr. Emily Knox, for the April Civic Café discussion. Dr. Knox is an Associate Professor in the School of Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her most recent book Foundations of Intellectual Freedom (ALA Neal-Schuman) won the 2023 Eli M. Oboler Prize for best published work in the area of intellectual freedom. Emily recently co-edited Foundations of Information Ethics published by ALA Neal-Schuman . She also edited Trigger Warnings: History, Theory Context, published by Rowman & Littlefield. Emily’s previous book, Book Banning in 21st Century America, was also published by Rowman & Littlefield and is the first monograph in the Beta Phi Mu Scholars’ Series. This WCIA March 28 item was prepared by Noah Nelson. You can read it at this link. Because of an insufficient number of election judges, the number of polling places in the county has been reduced. The article lists the closed locations and the reassigned locations. Any eligible voter may vote at any polling location in the county during early voting and on election day. Closed locations include:
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April 2024
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