Just Democracy Demands IL Secretary of State’s Office Fix AVR
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 28, 2020
Contact:
Timna Axel, Chicago Lawyers’ Committee, 312-888-4194 | taxel@clccrul.org
Six organizations representing the nonpartisan Just Democracy coalition have sent a legal notice letter to the Illinois Secretary of State’s office with a demand to fix new and ongoing violations of state and federal voting laws in the implementation of Automatic Voter Registration (AVR), just one week after reports surfaced that the agency caused individuals who may have been non-citizens to be registered to vote. The coalition is calling on the Secretary of State’s office to come to the table and make a binding agreement to fix the problems in its implementation of AVR.
Jay Young, Executive Director for Common Cause Illinois, said: “Our coalition’s attempts to engage the Secretary of State’s office in a process of accountability and transparency have been stonewalled time and again. They’ve given us no way to verify the few claims they’ve made about fixing AVR.”
The agency’s latest blunder follows a laundry list of problems detailed by the Just Democracy coalition, which celebrated in 2017 when AVR was passed into law through a unanimous and bipartisan vote and signed by Republican Governor Bruce Rauner. Since that time advocates have pressed the Secretary of State’s office for specific safeguards to protect non-citizen applicants; language assistance; fully trained and supported employees; a streamlined process without unnecessary red tape; and much more to no avail.
After multiple delays in the law’s implementation, Just Democracy sent a legal notice letter in December 2018 describing the Secretary of State’s violations of the National Voter Registration Act and the state AVR statute. The coalition then presented the Secretary of State’s office with an MOU in May 2019 that would address the ongoing problems with AVR through a community-engaged process – but the agency refused to negotiate in a meaningful way.
In the notice letter sent today, Just Democracy details new violations of the federal Voting Rights Act in addition to the National Voter Registration Act and the state AVR statute. The letter describes how, under the current system, voters might be knocked off the voter rolls simply because they have moved. It also cites the Secretary of State’s failure to properly evaluate and transfer relevant information to election authorities that might have protected non-citizens from being accidentally registered.
This week, Just Democracy will attend hearings in Springfield to hear more details from the Secretary of State’s office and the Illinois State Board of Elections on the inadvertent registration of non-citizens. Yet hearings alone will not fix the many outstanding problems with AVR, according to coalition members.
Lawrence Benito, CEO/Executive Director of Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) said: “Illinois’ voter registration of non-citizens was an unacceptable error that occurred through no fault of those individuals. If it were implemented properly, AVR would screen out those applicants and would make our voting system fairer and more accurate. This incident shouldn’t be an excuse to scrap AVR on a false premise.”
The Just Democracy coalition is being represented by Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, Advancing Justice AAJC, and pro bono counsel.
###
Just Democracy Illinois is a broad-based and diverse nonpartisan coalition that works to protect and promote the value of a single vote, no matter the geographic, racial, ethnic, or party affiliation of the voter. The Just Democracy Illinois steering committee includes Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Chicago, CHANGE Illinois, Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, Chicago Votes, Common Cause Illinois, Illinois Coalition for Immigrant & Refugee Rights, and Illinois Public Interest Research Group. Our campaign for Automatic Voter Registration (AVR) was endorsed by a diverse constituency of over 65 organizations from around Illinois.