Kudos to the Illinois state legislators (while the Illinois GOP continues to disgust+.
The following excerpted is from today's (May 23rd) Chicago Tribune:
An extra session for state legislators -- Finding recipe for pandemic budget proving elusive
By Jamie Munks and Dan Petrella
... Despite going into extra time, lawmakers did accomplish several items on their agenda in the first three days.
Earlier Friday, the Senate voted along party lines to approve a measure aimed at expanding voting by mail in November amid ongoing concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.
The measure, which was approved by the House on Thursday, would create an enhanced vote-by-mail plan for the Nov. 3 general election. The Senate approved the bill on a 37-19 vote, with all Republican members in opposition. It is now headed to Pritzker, who has said he’ll sign it. [emphasis added - JS]
The legislation would have vote-by-mail applications sent to everyone who voted in either the 2018 general election, the 2019 municipal election or this year’s March 17 primary, as well as to voters newly registered since the primary or who changed their addresses.
It would also make the day of the election, Nov. 3, a government and school holiday so schools can be used as polling places without risks to students and teachers.
The measure’s Senate sponsor, Democratic state Sen. Julie Morrison of Lake Forest, said the bill is an example of the state fulfilling its responsibility to plan and prepare during the pandemic, something that wasn’t possible ahead of the March primary.
In response to criticism from Senate Republicans in a committee hearing a day earlier, Morrison introduced a companion bill that would require ballot drop boxes set up by election authorities to be secure, and would make it easier for a three-person panel of election judges to reject mail-in ballots that lack signatures.
The changes weren’t enough to win support from any GOP senators, all of whom voted against the companion bill, which also was approved 37-19. The House also approved the changes Friday.
For context, see also:
And, yes, there have been cases of voter fraud as exemplified by the 2018 Bladen County, NC vote harvesting perpetrated by
The following excerpted is from today's (May 23rd) Chicago Tribune:
An extra session for state legislators -- Finding recipe for pandemic budget proving elusive
By Jamie Munks and Dan Petrella
... Despite going into extra time, lawmakers did accomplish several items on their agenda in the first three days.
Earlier Friday, the Senate voted along party lines to approve a measure aimed at expanding voting by mail in November amid ongoing concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.
The measure, which was approved by the House on Thursday, would create an enhanced vote-by-mail plan for the Nov. 3 general election. The Senate approved the bill on a 37-19 vote, with all Republican members in opposition. It is now headed to Pritzker, who has said he’ll sign it. [emphasis added - JS]
The legislation would have vote-by-mail applications sent to everyone who voted in either the 2018 general election, the 2019 municipal election or this year’s March 17 primary, as well as to voters newly registered since the primary or who changed their addresses.
It would also make the day of the election, Nov. 3, a government and school holiday so schools can be used as polling places without risks to students and teachers.
The measure’s Senate sponsor, Democratic state Sen. Julie Morrison of Lake Forest, said the bill is an example of the state fulfilling its responsibility to plan and prepare during the pandemic, something that wasn’t possible ahead of the March primary.
In response to criticism from Senate Republicans in a committee hearing a day earlier, Morrison introduced a companion bill that would require ballot drop boxes set up by election authorities to be secure, and would make it easier for a three-person panel of election judges to reject mail-in ballots that lack signatures.
The changes weren’t enough to win support from any GOP senators, all of whom voted against the companion bill, which also was approved 37-19. The House also approved the changes Friday.
For context, see also:
- The Neutral Partisan Effects of Vote-By-Mail,
- A Trump election conspiracy collapses, and
- Chris Wallace debunks Trump: No record of massive or serious fraud from mail-in voting.
And, yes, there have been cases of voter fraud as exemplified by the 2018 Bladen County, NC vote harvesting perpetrated by
... wait for it
... Republicans.
