Bill Text: IL SR0532 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Enrolled

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Bill Title: Recognizes that public high schools in the State are uniquely positioned to reach all young people, that public schools have a civic purpose to prepare youth, regardless of college or career aspirations, to participate in our democracy, and that public schools fulfill that civic purpose when the school provides education on the registration process and the infrastructure to register qualified students to vote. Urges election authorities in the State of Illinois to conduct outreach and trainings for high school principals to encourage principals to become deputy registrars. Urges election authorities in the State of Illinois to conduct outreach and trainings for qualified students to serve as deputy registrars so that students appointed as deputy registrars may register qualified peers to vote on their school campuses. Encourages every public high school in the State of Illinois to conduct voter registration drives on its campus for all qualified students.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Passed) 2024-05-25 - Added as Co-Sponsor Sen. Mary Edly-Allen [SR0532 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-SR0532-Enrolled.html

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SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 532
(As Amended By Senate Amendment No. 1)
WHEREAS, Illinois residents may register to vote online,
in person at the office of the election authority, at driver's
license facilities, with deputy registrars who are appointed
in each jurisdiction, or through mail using the Illinois Voter
Registration Application; and
WHEREAS, Public Act 103-0467 provided that a 16-year old
may preregister to vote, with the registration held in
abeyance by the Illinois State Board of Elections until that
individual turns 18; and
WHEREAS, The Election Code provides that a county clerk
may appoint an individual who is at least 17 years old and
registered to vote in the State of Illinois to serve as a
deputy registrar; and
WHEREAS, The Election Code specifically prevents a public
high school from prohibiting nonpartisan voter registration
activities on its premise; and
WHEREAS, A 2020 survey from the Center for Information and
Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts University
revealed that only 50% of young people, ages 18 - 29, were

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taught how to register to vote in high school; and
WHEREAS, A 2022 post-election survey conducted by the
Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and
Engagement at Tufts University found that 16% of Latinx youth
reported that they did not register to vote because they did
not know how to register, compared to 6% of non-Latinx youth;
and
WHEREAS, Research found that, during the 2008 elections,
African Americans who preregistered to vote in Florida at 16
were 5.2% more likely to vote than those who registered after
turning 18; and
WHEREAS, In its 2014 report to the General Assembly, the
Illinois Task Force on Civic Engagement recommended that
Illinois public schools should provide access for eligible
students to register to vote and encourage students to vote on
Election Day as one of the ways to substantially increase
civic literacy and civically informed members of the public;
and
WHEREAS, The Center for Information and Research on Civic
Learning and Engagement at Tufts University found that
teaching students about voting increased the likelihood of
student voting when they turned 18 by 40%; and

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WHEREAS, Research published by the Sandra Day O'Connor
Institute for American Democracy indicated that there is a
positive correlation between a child voting in their first
age-eligible election and the probability that their mother
votes in the next presidential election, and the correlation
is stronger for nonwhite children and children who qualified
for free or reduced lunch, which suggests that registering
young people to vote may improve civic outcomes not only for
students but for their families as well; and
WHEREAS, Developmental psychologists found that early
civic engagement, through voting, volunteering, and activism,
is associated with positive health outcomes later in life,
including improved mental health, greater educational
attainment, and higher personal and household incomes; and
WHEREAS, When the State of Illinois expanded who may serve
as an election judge in 2003 to include students, the American
Political Science Association surveyed alumni of Loyola
Academy in Wilmette after they served as election judges while
in high school, and the findings confirmed that practical
political experience in high school, if presented in tandem
with classroom learning, can increase later political
involvement; and

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WHEREAS, Numerous nonpartisan organizations are eager to
help facilitate voter registration drives on high school
campuses; therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL
ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we recognize that
public high schools in the State are uniquely positioned to
reach all young people, that public schools have a civic
purpose to prepare youth, regardless of college or career
aspirations, to participate in our democracy, and that public
schools fulfill that civic purpose when the school provides
education on the registration process and the infrastructure
to register qualified students to vote; and be it further
RESOLVED, That we urge election authorities in the State
of Illinois to conduct outreach and trainings for qualified
students to serve as deputy registrars so that students
appointed as deputy registrars may register qualified peers to
vote on their school campuses; and be it further