Illinois Expands Voting for Jail Detainees
More counties are following up on legislation signed last June to expand the criteria for counties to establish polling places in jail.
Landwebs
Lawmakers in Illinois in recent years have paved the way for more detention facilities to offer in-person voting, with Will County Detention Facility becoming just the second jail in the state to open a polling place for primary and general elections, joining Cook County Jail in Chicago, reports Pew Stateline. After seeing successful voting in the 2020 primary and presidential election, voting rights activists worked to expand the law to the state’s other 101 counties.
Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed legislation last June to expand the criteria for counties to establish polling places in jail and Will County is the first county in Illinois to take advantage of the new law. Detainees who are Will County residents will be able to vote in person at the jail and non-locals will be able to vote by mail. However, while Stand Up and Vote organizers are pushing the jail to offer voter registration drives for detainees, representatives for the Will County Sheriff’s office said voter registration drives in the jail are logistically impossible at the moment due to short-staffing.
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