Kane County Reporter

A witness from the Kane County Clerk’s Office said he is in favor of amending the Election Code.

Brian Pollock told the House Ethics & Elections Committee that the measure is “the product of discussion between the clerks’ association and the four caucuses regarding elections.”

“While there are some initiatives in this omnibus bill that are from the State Board of Elections or other legislators, several initiatives were proposed by the county clerks,” Pollock told the committee. “One such initiative allows for those who wish to vote by mail to complete one application to receive vote-by-mail ballots for subsequent elections rather than having to complete an application for each election.”

He clarified that this will not cover cases wherein the clerk's office sends unsolicited ballots to those who don’t request it. It would also allow seniors and those who wish to vote by mail for whatever reason, “the convenience of completing the application only once, not one for each and every election.”

“Deceased voters and those who move out of the county are removed from the voter rolls through regular process and will not continue to receive a vote-by-mail ballot as they would no longer be registered voters,” Pollock added.

"Kane County Clerk John Cunningham is a strong advocate of making sure the registered voters have every opportunity to cast their vote," Pollock said. "Our office has the most expansive early voting program. The border outreach program ... works with community partners to encourage registered voters to vote in person, early, or by mail."

“The point of this is that those who wish to vote by mail in all elections would be able to do so and those who wish to only vote by mail in one election have an opt-out provision to do so,” he said.

According to the language of the bill, SB0825 “Provides that a voter whose application for permanent vote-by-mail status is accepted by the election authority shall remain on the permanent vote-by-mail list until the voter requests to be removed from permanent vote-by-mail status, the voter provides notice to the election authority of a change in registration, or the election authority receives confirmation that the voter has subsequently registered to vote in another county.”

Senate Bill 0825, now Public Act 102-0015, was signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker on June 17. The act is effective immediately except for some provisions which only took effect July 1.

Pollock was a former chairman of the Kane County Board Legislative Committee.