Full Text of SR0532 103rd General Assembly
SR0532enr 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY | | | SR0532 Enrolled | | LRB103 34537 MST 64371 r |
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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. |
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