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1 | SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 532 | ||||||
2 | (As Amended By Senate Amendment No. 1) | ||||||
3 | WHEREAS, Illinois residents may register to vote online, | ||||||
4 | in person at the office of the election authority, at driver's | ||||||
5 | license facilities, with deputy registrars who are appointed | ||||||
6 | in each jurisdiction, or through mail using the Illinois Voter | ||||||
7 | Registration Application; and | ||||||
8 | WHEREAS, Public Act 103-0467 provided that a 16-year old | ||||||
9 | may preregister to vote, with the registration held in | ||||||
10 | abeyance by the Illinois State Board of Elections until that | ||||||
11 | individual turns 18; and | ||||||
12 | WHEREAS, The Election Code provides that a county clerk | ||||||
13 | may appoint an individual who is at least 17 years old and | ||||||
14 | registered to vote in the State of Illinois to serve as a | ||||||
15 | deputy registrar; and | ||||||
16 | WHEREAS, The Election Code specifically prevents a public | ||||||
17 | high school from prohibiting nonpartisan voter registration | ||||||
18 | activities on its premise; and | ||||||
19 | WHEREAS, A 2020 survey from the Center for Information and | ||||||
20 | Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts University | ||||||
21 | revealed that only 50% of young people, ages 18 - 29, were |
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1 | taught how to register to vote in high school; and | ||||||
2 | WHEREAS, A 2022 post-election survey conducted by the | ||||||
3 | Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and | ||||||
4 | Engagement at Tufts University found that 16% of Latinx youth | ||||||
5 | reported that they did not register to vote because they did | ||||||
6 | not know how to register, compared to 6% of non-Latinx youth; | ||||||
7 | and | ||||||
8 | WHEREAS, Research found that, during the 2008 elections, | ||||||
9 | African Americans who preregistered to vote in Florida at 16 | ||||||
10 | were 5.2% more likely to vote than those who registered after | ||||||
11 | turning 18; and | ||||||
12 | WHEREAS, In its 2014 report to the General Assembly, the | ||||||
13 | Illinois Task Force on Civic Engagement recommended that | ||||||
14 | Illinois public schools should provide access for eligible | ||||||
15 | students to register to vote and encourage students to vote on | ||||||
16 | Election Day as one of the ways to substantially increase | ||||||
17 | civic literacy and civically informed members of the public; | ||||||
18 | and | ||||||
19 | WHEREAS, The Center for Information and Research on Civic | ||||||
20 | Learning and Engagement at Tufts University found that | ||||||
21 | teaching students about voting increased the likelihood of | ||||||
22 | student voting when they turned 18 by 40%; and |
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1 | WHEREAS, Research published by the Sandra Day O'Connor | ||||||
2 | Institute for American Democracy indicated that there is a | ||||||
3 | positive correlation between a child voting in their first | ||||||
4 | age-eligible election and the probability that their mother | ||||||
5 | votes in the next presidential election, and the correlation | ||||||
6 | is stronger for nonwhite children and children who qualified | ||||||
7 | for free or reduced lunch, which suggests that registering | ||||||
8 | young people to vote may improve civic outcomes not only for | ||||||
9 | students but for their families as well; and | ||||||
10 | WHEREAS, Developmental psychologists found that early | ||||||
11 | civic engagement, through voting, volunteering, and activism, | ||||||
12 | is associated with positive health outcomes later in life, | ||||||
13 | including improved mental health, greater educational | ||||||
14 | attainment, and higher personal and household incomes; and | ||||||
15 | WHEREAS, When the State of Illinois expanded who may serve | ||||||
16 | as an election judge in 2003 to include students, the American | ||||||
17 | Political Science Association surveyed alumni of Loyola | ||||||
18 | Academy in Wilmette after they served as election judges while | ||||||
19 | in high school, and the findings confirmed that practical | ||||||
20 | political experience in high school, if presented in tandem | ||||||
21 | with classroom learning, can increase later political | ||||||
22 | involvement; and |
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1 | WHEREAS, Numerous nonpartisan organizations are eager to | ||||||
2 | help facilitate voter registration drives on high school | ||||||
3 | campuses; therefore, be it | ||||||
4 | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL | ||||||
5 | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we recognize that | ||||||
6 | public high schools in the State are uniquely positioned to | ||||||
7 | reach all young people, that public schools have a civic | ||||||
8 | purpose to prepare youth, regardless of college or career | ||||||
9 | aspirations, to participate in our democracy, and that public | ||||||
10 | schools fulfill that civic purpose when the school provides | ||||||
11 | education on the registration process and the infrastructure | ||||||
12 | to register qualified students to vote; and be it further | ||||||
13 | RESOLVED, That we urge election authorities in the State | ||||||
14 | of Illinois to conduct outreach and trainings for qualified | ||||||
15 | students to serve as deputy registrars so that students | ||||||
16 | appointed as deputy registrars may register qualified peers to | ||||||
17 | vote on their school campuses; and be it further | ||||||
18 | RESOLVED, That we encourage every public high school in | ||||||
19 | the State of Illinois to conduct voter registration drives on | ||||||
20 | its campus for all qualified students. |