West Cook News

State Sen. Suzy Glowiak Hilton (D-Oakbrook Terrace) recently took part in a forum where “bolstering voting rights” was the primary topic of discussion, with speakers noting that despite the state’s voting laws only one in three eligible residents took part in the election that installed Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

“Today I was thrilled to join fellow Democrats in honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy by attending a forum to discuss the importance of bolstering voting rights in our community and across the state,” Glowiak Hilton posted on Facebook. “Thank you to DuPage County Democratic Party Chair Ken Mejia-Beal, Patrick Watson Democratic State Central Committeeman IL06, and Rep. Anna Stava-Murray for hosting.”

In their 2020 Cost of Voting Index, researchers at Northern Illinois University found Illinois to be among the top five states across the country in making it easy to vote. Researchers considered such factors as online voter registration, early voting, mail-in voting, being able to register as late as Election Day and automatic voter registration of citizens who are eligible to vote.

The index relies on an assemblage of dozens of current election laws to rank each state according to the time and effort it takes to vote in U.S. presidential elections.

In Illinois over the last five years state officials have come to rely on an Automatic Voter Registration (AVR) program, which allows a person to register to vote while interacting with a “designated AVR agency,” such as a Secretary of State Driver’s Services facility. During that encounter, the same information can be used to register that person to vote unless they opt out.   “Voting and elections are at the heart of our democracy, and voting should be easy,” political scientist and study lead author Scot Schraufnagel told NIU Newsroom. “One characteristic that helps define the competency of an electoral system and the legitimacy of governing institutions is the ease in which you can cast a ballot.”

Schraufnagel said there is no systematic evidence to support arguments that easing restrictions would result in widespread voter fraud.

Overall turnout barely topped 30 percent when Lightfoot bagged nearly 75 percent of the vote to win in a landslide in 2019.