Illinois voters really have it bad when it comes to politics. It’s one of those states where it’s actually true that both sides are terrible (though the right is still worse). I can say that because I live here and I see it all the time. Four of our last seven governors have gone to prison. No, really.
Voter Turnout Is Key
There are two main reasons that our current mistake, Bruce Rauner, won his spot in the governor’s mansion. One, because his opponent, Pat Quinn, was too closely tied to our last governor, Rod Blagojevich, who is currently in prison. And two, because Illinois voter turnout in 2014 was abysmal.
In an effort to boost voter turnout in Illinois, the state legislature passed a bill back in June to automatically register citizens of voting age. As reported by ThinkProgress back in June,
“Starting in 2018, every time Illinois residents visit a Department of Motor Vehicles, an office of Human Services, Healthcare and Family Services, the Secretary of State’s office, or an Employment Security office, he or she will be automatically registered to vote unless they opt out.”
The bill was passed by an overwhelming 86-30 margin, putting Illinois on track to become the sixth state in the nation with automatic registration.
Rauner Was For It Before He Was Against It
Though he had said back in May that he supported the bill, stating,
“I am a big fan of simplifying the voter registration process and trying to get everyone who should be able to vote, to get them registered and vote.”
I don’t know who got to Rauner between then and now, but he vetoed the bill late Friday afternoon.
Now, the legislature must vote on the bill again, but the margin with which it passed in the first place makes it look like an override of the veto will be easily attainable.
Voter Fraud Is Exceedingly Rare
In vetoing the bill, Rauner is blowing the dog whistle of “illegals” voting, which simply doesn’t happen. People who are in this country and are undocumented are not risking everything just to try and cast a ballot.
The right wing loves to talk about voter fraud as though it is this ubiquitous problem that sullies every election. However, Justin Levitt, a professor at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, has tracked allegations of fraud for years. In his research, he has found 31 cases of POSSIBLE voter fraud in over 1,000,000,000 ballots cast. No, that’s not a typo – 31 cases in over 1 BILLION ballots. You can see his research, along with his sources, here.
Illinois Voters – And Voters Across The Country – Need To Get To The Polls In November
Illinois is not one of the states that has an oppressive voter ID law, and it’s not likely to have one in the near future. Rauner’s veto, though, sends a message that he wants to keep people from the polls. The voter registration law won’t go into effect until 2018, which happens to be when he will be up for re-election.
Never forget that conservatives want to keep people from the polls. They know that they will lose when more people vote.
Watch Paul Weyrich, a major player in the conservative movement in his day, and co-founder of the Heritage Foundation, the Free Congress Foundation, and ALEC, talk about how he doesn’t want people to vote. Weyrich passed away in 2008, but his legacy lives on in voter suppression laws that are sweeping the country.
Featured Image via Labor Tribune
