Illinois: Quinn’s redistricting reform has own legal issues | Chicago Tribune

Former Gov. Pat Quinn thinks he knows how to get a redistricting ballot question past the Illinois Supreme Court. The Democrat, who lost his 2014 re-election bid to Republican Bruce Rauner, has been on a bit of a petition drive since becoming a private citizen. Until Tuesday, his focus had been local — he spent the summer soliciting Chicagoans for signatures to get mayoral term limits on a future ballot. Last week’s state Supreme Court decision to keep the Independent Maps group’s redistricting question off the Nov. 8 ballot created an opening for Quinn to again remind people that he led the only successful citizen-driven petition to change the state constitution — in 1980.

Illinois: Redistricting referendum won’t appear on ballot | Associated Press

A divided Illinois Supreme Court narrowly ruled Thursday that a voter referendum seeking to change how Illinois draws political boundaries is unconstitutional, making it ineligible to appear on the November ballot. The high court, in a 4-3 decision, affirmed the ruling by a Cook County judge who determined the ballot initiative seeking to give legislative mapmaking power to an independent commission instead of lawmakers didn’t meet constitutional muster. It’s the second failed attempt to overhaul redistricting by petition in two years. The ruling in the high-stakes case – falling the day before an election deadline to certify fall ballots – had the potential to alter Illinois’ political power dynamic, where elected officials in the Democratic-leaning state run the once-a-decade process. But in a 63-page ruling the majority justices said the measure didn’t meet narrow constitutional requirements.

Illinois: Sharply divided Illinois Supreme Court keeps redistricting question off fall ballot | Chicago Tribune

Sharply divided along party lines, the Illinois Supreme Court on Thursday blocked from the fall ballot a proposal that would have asked voters whether to change the state constitution to take much of the politics out of the redrawing of state legislative boundaries. A 4-3 Democratic majority agreed with a Cook County judge’s ruling last month that the petition-driven Independent Map amendment proposal did not fit the narrow legal window for citizen initiatives to change the 1970 Illinois Constitution. The ruling was a win for Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan, who opposed the referendum, suggesting it would hurt protections on ensuring minority representation in the General Assembly. The speaker has maintained his hold at the Capitol for more than three decades in part because he’s had the power to draw the maps. Additionally, a longtime Madigan ally was the lead attorney for the People’s Map, a group of prominent racial and ethnic minority businessmen that challenged the proposal.

Illinois: Democrats, advocates blast Rauner veto of automatic voter registration bill | Chicago Tribune

Democrats and voting rights advocates cried foul Monday over Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner’s last-minute veto of a bill that would make voter registration automatic in time for the 2018 election, vowing to push for an override when lawmakers return to the Capitol in late November. Rauner, who has long said he supports expanding access to the polls, cited concerns about potential voting fraud and conflicts with federal law. He vetoed the bill on the final day to act and made his announcement Friday afternoon, a time politicians typically dump controversial news as the public’s attention is focused on the weekend. On Monday morning, Democratic state lawmakers and Cook County Clerk David Orr attempted to keep the story alive, casting the veto as a step backward for voting rights in Illinois and suggesting that Rauner was acting to protect his own political agenda.

Illinois: Governor vetoes automatic voter registration bill | Chicago Sun-Times

Gov. Bruce Rauner on Friday vetoed a bill that would have automatically registered drivers to become voters when they get a driver’s license, saying there were some “corrections” to be made to the bill before he could approve it. “Today I return the bill, however, to provide the sponsors and proponents with the opportunity to make some important corrections to protect the integrity of our election system and to comply with federal law,” Rauner said in his veto Friday. “We must also ensure that the State Board of Elections is provided with adequate time and resources to implement the bill’s provisions.”

Illinois: Governor vetoes automatic voter registration bill | Chicago Tribune

Gov. Bruce Rauner vetoed a bill aimed at making voter registration automatic in Illinois, citing concerns about potential voting fraud and conflicts with federal law. The first-term Republican governor said he wanted to continue negotiations with supporters to work out those issues, but groups backing the measure accused him of playing politics with his veto and said they would seek an override. The legislation, approved on the final day of the spring session in May, received overwhelming support, 86-30 in the House and 50-7 in the Senate. If those totals held, the governor’s move could be easily overturned, but pressure dynamics could come into play as Rauner tries to make his veto stick. Under the legislation, starting in January 2018 people seeking a new or updated driver’s license — or other state services — would automatically be registered to vote or have their registration updated unless they opted out. Currently in Illinois, motorists seeking services at secretary of state driver’s facilities are asked if they want to register to vote or update their registration — an opt-in form of voter registration. Five other states have adopted what’s known as “automatic voter registration” policies in the past 18 months, supporters of the Illinois measure said.

Illinois: New law gives 17-year-olds more election, voting rights | Northwest Herald

A new law sponsored by state Sen. Dan McConchie will allow young people to become involved in the election process sooner than they had been allowed to participate in the past. Under the law, signed last week by Gov. Bruce Rauner, individuals who will be 18 years old at the next election are now able to fully participate in the election process. “There’s no reason to say that 17-year-olds have the right to vote and prevent them from otherwise participating in the election process,” McConchie, R-Hawthorn Woods, said in a news release.

Illinois: Voter registration system back online after cyberattack | The Southern

Illinois’ voter registration system is back online about two weeks after it was shut down in the wake of a cyberattack. Ken Menzel, general counsel for the Illinois State Board of Elections, said Friday that the board’s focus has been on securing the voter database before bringing it back online. The board will continue investigating the attack to determine how many voters’ information may have been accessed. The attack, which the board told local election authorities it believes was the work of foreign hackers, occurred July 12, and the online registration system was taken down the following day as a precaution. It was brought back online late Thursday afternoon.

Illinois: Voter registration system shut down following cyber breach | StateScoop

The Illinois’ Voter Registration System, IVRS, is still down after officials discovered a security breach on July 12. The system was shut down the day after the breach was discovered, according to Kyle Thomas, the state board of elections’ director of voting and registration systems. “Once the severity of the attack was realized, as a precautionary measure, the entire IVRS system was shut down, including online voter registration,” Thomas wrote in a memo to the election authority that was posted to McLean County Clerk Kathy Michael’s Facebook page. A look-up field on IVRS that allowed voters to find out if they were already registered to vote, and at which address, could have allowed hackers access to the system, Ken Menzel, general counsel for the State Board of Elections, told StateScoop.

Illinois: State Supreme Court to consider remap ballot measure | Associated Press

The Illinois Supreme Court agreed Friday to quickly take up a case challenging the constitutionality of a ballot measure that could alter the way Illinois draws its political maps. Just 2 days after a Cook County judge ruled the redistricting question was unconstitutional for November’s ballot, the state’s high court granted an emergency motion for direct appeal and set a briefing schedule, bypassing the appellate court. A group called the Independent Map Amendment cited an Aug. 26 State Board of Elections deadline to get on the ballot in their request to the court. They’ve proposed an 11-member commission be in charge of drawing the state’s legislative boundaries, instead of party leaders. It’s the second time since 2014 supporters of redistricting reform have tried to get the high stakes issue before voters.

Illinois: Judge knocks redistricting off Illinois ballot in loss for Rauner | Chicago Tribune

A Cook County judge on Wednesday tossed from the fall ballot a constitutional amendment to take away the General Assembly’s power to draw legislative district boundaries, dealing a loss to Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and a win to Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan. The ruling marked the second time in three years that the Independent Maps group suffered a major legal setback in attempting to ask voters whether the state should remove much of the politics from redistricting. The stumbling block was the same as last time, with a judge finding the proposal did not fit a narrow legal window for a petition-driven initiative to change the Illinois Constitution. Independent Maps chairman Dennis FitzSimons vowed to appeal the case to the Illinois Supreme Court, in hopes the question could still appear on the Nov. 8 ballot. Both FitzSimons’ coalition and the People’s Map group that filed the lawsuit anticipated that’s where the case would end up anyway.

Illinois: Hackers penetrate Illinois voter registration database | The Southern

The Illinois State Board of Elections’ online voter registration system remained down Thursday afternoon in the wake of a cyberattack last week. The attack on the statewide Illinois Voter Registration System occurred July 12, and the system was shut off July 13 as a precaution once the board realized the severity of the attack, according to a message sent to local election authorities. Hackers exploited “a chink in the armor in one small data field in the online registration system,” said Ken Menzel, the board’s general counsel.

Illinois: DuPage County eyes merging Election Commission, clerk’s office | Naperville Sun

Efforts are continuing to combine the DuPage County clerk’s office and the DuPage Election Commission, but it would not happen until after the November election, County Board Chairman Dan Cronin told board members this week. The consolidation idea follows the absorption two weeks ago by DuPage of a Naperville street-lighting district and comes as Cook County considers merging its clerk and recorder of deeds. “We are moving forward with our efforts to create a streamlined, more efficient, more cost-effective government,” Cronin said at Tuesday’s County Board meeting.

Illinois: Judge to issue ruling on Rauner-backed redistricting referendum by July 21 | Chicago Tribune

A Cook County judge said Thursday she will rule by July 21 on whether a petition-driven proposed constitutional amendment aimed at taking much of the politics out of the redrawing of legislative districts will appear on the fall ballot. Regardless of Judge Diane Larsen’s decision, attorneys on both sides of the case ultimately expect it to end up before the Illinois Supreme Court. The Independent Map proposal, which has gained enough signatures to qualify for a spot on the Nov. 8 ballot, would create a multistep process in which an 11-member board, including representatives of the four legislative leaders, would be charged with drawing new boundaries for Illinois’ 118 House and 59 Senate seats after the once-a-decade federal census.

Illinois: Redistricting reform heads to court as Madigan forces try to block it from ballot | Chicago Tribune

Now that the Illinois State Board of Elections says a proposed constitutional amendment to change the way legislative districts are drawn has gained enough signatures to be eligible for the fall ballot, the fate of the proposal is with the courts. Oral arguments in a challenge to the Independent Map Amendment proposal, aimed at removing some of the politics from the redrawing of House and Senate districts, are scheduled for 2 p.m. June 30 before Cook County Circuit Court Judge Diane Larsen. In preparing for the case, the Independent Map group filed a response to the legal challenge from the People’s Map opposition, whose lead attorney is Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan’s top legal ally, Mike Kasper.

Illinois: Illinois could become the fifth state with automatic voter registration | Daily Herald

Illinoisans moved one step closer to being able to automatically register to vote when they renew their driver’s licenses. The measure, which was approved by both the Illinois House and Senate Tuesday in the final hours of the spring session, will go to Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner for approval. Rauner has indicated in the past that he’d support simplifying the voting process but hasn’t specifically said whether he’d sign the plan into law. If the bill is approved, Illinois would become the fifth state to enact automatic voter registration, joining California, Oregon, Vermont and West Virginia. In addition the Secretary of State’s office, four other state agencies would be able to add eligible people to voter rolls. These include the Department on Aging and the departments of Human Services, Healthcare and Family Services, and Employment Security. State officials and local elections boards would have until Jan. 1, 2018, to fully implement the plan.

Illinois: Automatic voter registration goes to Rauner; he likes idea | Associated Press

Visitors to one of a handful of Illinois state agencies would be automatically registered to vote under legislation lawmakers sent to Gov. Bruce Rauner on Tuesday. The House approved the idea 86-30 on the final day of the General Assembly’s spring session, after days of tweaking to make it palatable to state officials who must carry it out. With the Republican governor’s approval, the Prairie State would join just four other states that have or are planning automatic registration programs. In Illinois, people who do business with one of five state agencies — the Department on Aging and the departments of Human Services, Healthcare and Family Services, Employment Security and the Secretary of State — would have information automatically filed with election authorities to allow them to enter voting booths.

Illinois: State election board questions automatic voter registration | Associated Press

A plan to make Illinois the next state to allow automatic voter registration is moving through the Legislature despite the state’s leading election authority having serious doubts that it has the ability and money to roll it out, especially with one deadline before November’s election. After the Senate easily approved it, the House is poised to take up a proposal this week making the State Board of Elections the clearinghouse for automatically registering voters. By Sept. 1, the board would have to conduct a voter file update with state agencies’ data going back a year. The whole plan would be in place by 2018. Similar to laws in Oregon, California, West Virginia and Vermont, the Illinois plan would allow voters to opt out of automatic registration. Democrats, including those in the House where a committee could vote as early as Tuesday, say it’ll increase civic participation and modernize systems. They point to President Barack Obama’s call to make automatic voter registration “the new norm” nationwide during a February visit to Springfield.

Illinois: Senate approves automatic voter registration bill | Chicago Tribune

Senate Democrats pushed through legislation Thursday that would automatically register drivers to vote when they get their licenses, a change supporters argued would eliminate red tape and get more people to the polls. Republicans were fiercely opposed, saying eligibility should be tightened by requiring voters to show photo identification before they could register. Doing so, they contended, would prevent voter fraud and keep illegal immigrants from voting — arguments Democrats said were solutions in search of a problem. “The notion that voter fraud is rampant in Illinois is just unproven and undocumented,” said Sen. Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, who has pushed bills supporting online and same-day voter registration and pointed out that Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner spoke in favor of the concept just hours earlier.

Illinois: Group submits signatures for Illinois redistricting amendment | The Daily Northwestern

A nonpartisan Illinois citizens group submitted 65,000 pages of signatures to the Illinois State Board of Elections earlier this month for a petition calling for a constitutional amendment to change redistricting procedures in light of the coming November elections. Independent Maps — a statewide coalition composed of volunteers and state business, philanthropic, religious and political groups — collected and delivered more than 570,000 signatures to the election board’s Springfield office on May 6. The petitions call for an amendment to be placed on state ballots for a vote this November. The amendment would take the power of redrawing state legislative districts away from legislators and give it to an independent commission.

Illinois: Madigan’s Democratic lawyer sues to block redistricting reform referendum | Chicago Tribune

An attorney who’s long been a close ally of Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan has filed a lawsuit trying to block voters from considering a proposed constitutional amendment that seeks to remove some of the influence of partisan politics from how state House and Senate district boundaries are drawn. The suit was brought by the People’s Map, the same group of prominent racial and ethnic minorities that sued two years ago to keep a similar referendum question off the 2014 ballot. Their attorney is Michael Kasper, general counsel for Madigan’s Illinois Democratic Party. The legal move comes less than a week after the Independent Maps coalition filed more than 570,000 petition signatures with the State Board of Elections in the first step toward putting the proposed amendment on the Nov. 8 ballot — almost double the minimum required.

Illinois: Voters Could See Two Redistricting Reform Choices on November Ballot | Huffington Post

Two years after a lawsuit backed by House Speaker Michael Madigan kept a citizen-led redistricting reform effort off the ballot, Madigan himself voted to get an anti-gerrymandering amendment before voters on Nov. 8. By a 105-7 vote, the House approved a constitutional amendment sponsored by Rep. Jack Franks, D-Marengo, that proposes removing politicians from the drawing of state legislative district maps and creating an independent commission overseen by the Illinois Supreme Court. The amendment, HJRCA 58, now moves to the Senate. If the amendment receives 36 votes in the Senate, it would be placed on the ballot for consideration by voters. Tuesday’s vote was a landmark in Illinois politics as reform groups for decades have decried the highly political process of re-drawing legislative maps every 10 years following the U.S. Census. The opportunity to control boundary-making has long been the most coveted prize of both political parties, who have skillfully used the once-a-decade redistricting to more securely embed incumbents of their own party and punish lawmakers of the opposite party.

Illinois: McHenry County clerk: Election Day communication issues are being addressed | Daily Herald

McHenry County Clerk Mary McClellan promised to improve future elections after a State Board of Elections review concluded some eligible voters may not have been able to cast their ballots on Election Day in March. In a memo released last month, Kenneth Menzel, general counsel for the board of elections, detailed two main issues with the general primary in McHenry County: Communication problems and glitches in the electronic poll books that allow election officials to review voter data. “Neither of these issues impacted the ballot tabulation operations, and we have not found anything that calls into question the accuracy of the vote totals processed and reported,” Menzel said. “The issues may, however, have resulted in some eligible or potentially eligible voters not casting ballots.”

Illinois: House backs Democratic redistricting amendment | Reuters

A Democratic bid to transfer the highly coveted political power of drawing legislative boundaries from state lawmakers to the Democratically controlled Illinois Supreme Court overwhelmingly passed the state House of Representatives on Tuesday. The proposed amendment to Illinois’ constitution sailed through the House on a 105-7 vote and now must be approved by a three-fifths majority in the state Senate by Friday in order to be placed on the Nov. 8 general election ballot. Since Democrats controlled the state legislature and the governor’s office after the 2010 census, they won the once-a-decade right to draw new legislative district boundaries. The process enabled the party to build super-majorities in both the Senate and House.

Illinois: DuPage looking to consolidate election commission, clerk’s office | Daily Herald

More than four decades after election oversight was stripped from the DuPage County clerk’s office to create the DuPage Election Commission, officials are working to develop plans to consolidate both offices to increase efficiency and reduce costs. “We are working toward consolidation of the election commission and the county clerk’s office, which will create a new hybrid providing our voters the most efficient, the most effective model for elections in DuPage County,” county board Chairman Dan Cronin announced during Tuesday’s county board meeting. Election commission officials have adopted a series of cost-saving measures since Cronin launched the DuPage Accountability, Consolidation and Transparency Initiative in May 2012. The initiative called on the commission and 23 other agencies to make structural and operational reforms.

Illinois: Elections board IDs McHenry County 2016 primary problems | Northwest Herald

The issues that plagued the March 15 primary in McHenry County might have led to some eligible voters not casting their ballots, according to the Illinois State Board of Elections’ report. The report was requested by state Rep. David McSweeney, R-Barrington Hills, who was not alone in demanding answers after an Election Day many felt was full of problems. McSweeney, who provided the memo to the Northwest Herald on Thursday after receiving it from the state board of elections, said the report was disconcerting. “It was an absolute fiasco,” McSweeney said after receiving the report. “I’m concerned, and I think there should be changes so that never happens again. … That’s the most basic American right – to vote.”

Illinois: Senate approves redistricting amendment | Quad City Times

The Illinois Senate has approved a proposed amendment to the state Constitution that would change the way legislative and congressional districts are drawn but rejected one that would have eliminated the lieutenant governor’s office. Sen. Kwame Raoul, D-Chicago, sponsored the redistricting amendment, which is similar to one the Senate approved in 2010 that failed to win approval in the House. Unlike a current proposal from House Democrats and another backed by the group Independent Maps, Raoul’s measure would leave the task of redrawing boundaries largely in the hands of state lawmakers. “Here in the state of Illinois, we are fortunate to have a state with a diverse population,” Raoul said, arguing that his measure would do the most to protect influence of minority voters.

Illinois: House Democrats propose redistricting amendment | Bloomington Pantagraph

Illinois House Democrats are proposing their own plan for changing the way the state’s legislative districts are drawn. Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner has made redistricting reform a key component of his “turnaround agenda,” but Democrats say a Republican proposal and one being pushed by a group called Independent Maps wouldn’t adequately take into account minority populations when drawing boundaries, a claim supporters dispute. Rep. Jack Franks, D-Marengo, said he filed the new proposal because he doesn’t believe the other plan would pass constitutional muster due to its lack of protection for minority voters.

Illinois: Budget mess could mean long lines, headaches on Election Day | The State Journal-Register

A sweeping new election law that was intended to increase voter turnout in time for the presidential contest and a critical U.S. Senate race may instead cause greater frustration among voters due to Illinois lawmakers’ inability to agree on a budget, with officials warning of possible long lines, fewer safeguards against voter fraud and other costly headaches come November. The bill, pushed through the Legislature in the final weeks of Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn’s term, required several changes that traditionally benefit Democrats, such as same-day voter registration and expanded early voting. While those pieces of the law will be in place come Nov. 8, some local election officials say they’ve stuck with the bill for additional equipment and staffing. And the nearly $4 million that state election officials said they’d need in the first two years for other changes wasn’t approved by the Legislature. The standoff between Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and majority

Illinois: Aging voting machines in Clark County, statewide need replaced | Springfield News Sun

A sensor in a voting machine in Green Twp. stopped working during the primary election this week, which elections officials locally and statewide said is a symptom of Ohio’s aging voting machines that need upgraded soon. The Presidential Commission on Election Administration called the aging voting machines an “impending crisis” in a 2014 report to President Obama. It could cost $150 million to $175 million to buy new voting equipment statewide, a recent state report found, and there’s likely little federal money available now like there was a decade ago. The Ohio Secretary of State’s Office has been developing a plan to upgrade voting equipment statewide by the 2020 election.