It's rare when newspaper editorial boards and fiscal watchdog groups recommend that residents vote to increase their property taxes. But that's exactly the case as Cook County voters face a binding question on their election ballot: Do you want to pay a little more to help fund the Cook County Forest Preserves?
Voters
A new report estimates an additional 111-thousand voter registration applications have been processed at Illinois Secretary of State facilities annually, thanks to a 2018 automatic voter registration law. But advocates say Illinois can — and should — do better.
Pounding his fist for emphasis, President Joe Biden challenged senators on Tuesday to “stand against voter suppression,” urging them to change Senate rules in order to pass voting rights legislation that Republicans are blocking from debate and votes.
There were few reports of voting or equipment problems, other than the sporadic power outage or polling place opening late that is not unusual for Election Day. It was too soon to gauge the effects of new voting restrictions in place in a few states.
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday both marked the one-year anniversary of U.S. Rep. John Lewis’ death by urging Congress to honor the legacy of the civil rights icon by enacting laws to protect voting rights.
The Texas voting bills that prompted state Democrats’ flight to Washington this week include a raft of tweaks and changes to the state’s election code. Some are dramatic, others highly technical, and a couple could make life easier for voters.
President Joe Biden declared preserving voting rights an urgent national “test of our time” on Tuesday but offered few concrete proposals to meet it. Texas Democrats took their own dramatic action to stymie Republican efforts to tighten ballot restrictions in their state.
President Joe Biden met with civil rights leaders Thursday in the West Wing, while Vice President Kamala Harris announced $25 million in new spending by the Democratic National Committee on actions to protect voting access ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.
How much is nature worth? The Forest Preserve District of Cook County is about to find out. The district’s board of commissioners has thrown its support behind a proposal for a ballot referendum that would put a property tax increase for the preserves directly in the hands of voters.
For 184 years, members of the Chicago City Council have been known as aldermen — even though its first female members were elected a half-century ago. That is set to change.
Illinois’ primary date next year is moving from March 15 to June 28, giving candidates for the U.S. House time to organize their campaigns and petition drives, given that legislators will not finalize a new map of congressional districts until fall.
Chicago-based United Airlines takes a stand against the Georgia voting law. Crain’s Chicago Business editor Ann Dwyer takes us behind the headline of that story and more.
House Democrats passed sweeping voting and ethics legislation over unanimous Republican opposition, advancing to the Senate what would be the largest overhaul of the U.S. election law in at least a generation.
The flow of misinformation has only intensified since Election Day, researchers and political analysts say, stoking Donald Trump’s baseless claims that the election was stolen and false narratives. More recently, it has morphed into efforts to undermine vaccination efforts against the coronavirus.
A new executive order from President Joe Biden directs federal agencies to take a series of steps to promote voting access, a move that comes as congressional Democrats press for a sweeping voting and elections bill to counter efforts to restrict voting access.
Tired of politics as usual? A pair of lawmakers say there’s a way to keep officials on their toes: allow voters to recall them.
