Promote Voting in Jails

Many Cook County Jail detainees have no idea they can vote, but a number of local organizations, including LWV Chicago, have made efforts to change that. Collaborating with Chicago Votes, jail administrators, and the Chicago Board of Elections (CBOE), League members have helped register thousands of detainees in voter registration drives at the jail and aided in conducting actual voting inside the jail.

Illinois law allows individuals who have been charged, but not convicted of a crime, the right to vote, but many inmates are not registered or have changed their address. Most of the 20,000 detainees in jails across the state aren’t provided with voter information and are told or believe incorrectly that they can’t vote.

Illinois House Bill 4469, which had the support of the Illinois, Chicago and Cook County Leagues as well as nearly two dozen other sponsors, would have required the Illinois Department of Corrections and county jails to work with election officials to ensure pretrial detainees can vote. The bill also required prisons to provide a “know your rights guide” and registration information to individuals as they are released from serving their time. Despite passing both the state House and Senate, Governor Rauner vetoed “know your rights” provision of the bill on August 17, 2018.

In 2019, Governor Pritzker signed into law a measure that allowed Cook County to set up polling places in its detention facilities. In 2021, Governor Pritzker signed legislation to expand the law to other Illinois counties.

---