Bill Text: IL SB1935 | 2019-2020 | 101st General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Election Code. Allows the State Board of Elections to receive voter registration information provided by applicants using electronic voter registration portals (rather than the Board's website). Provides that notwithstanding any other provision of law, a person who is otherwise qualified to vote may preregister to vote on or after that person's 16th birthday, with the registration held in abeyance by the appropriate election authority until that individual attains the required age to vote. Requires preregistration to be completed using the online voter registration system or an electronic voter registration portal. Provides that for the purposes of the Code, an individual who is 16 years of age or older (rather than who is 17 years of age and who will be 18 years of age on the date of the general or consolidated election) shall be deemed competent to execute and attest to any voter registration forms.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 15-0)

Status: (Failed) 2021-01-13 - Session Sine Die [SB1935 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2019-SB1935-Introduced.html

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101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2019 and 2020 SB1935 Introduced 2/15/2019, by Sen. Andy Manar SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
10 ILCS 5/1A-16.5
10 ILCS 5/3-6
Amends the Election Code. Allows the State Board of Elections to receive voter registration information provided by applicants using electronic voter registration portals (rather than the Board's website). Provides that notwithstanding any other provision of law, a person who is otherwise qualified to vote may preregister to vote on or after that person's 16th birthday, with the registration held in abeyance by the appropriate election authority until that individual attains the required age to vote. Requires preregistration to be completed using the online voter registration system or an electronic voter registration portal. Provides that for the purposes of the Code, an individual who is 16 years of age or older (rather than who is 17 years of age and who will be 18 years of age on the date of the general or consolidated election) shall be deemed competent to execute and attest to any voter registration forms.
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A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning elections.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Election Code is amended by changing
Sections 1A-16.5 and 3-6 as follows:
(10 ILCS 5/1A-16.5)
Sec. 1A-16.5. Online voter registration.
(a) The State Board of Elections shall establish and
maintain a system for online voter registration that permits a
person to apply to register to vote or to update his or her
existing voter registration. In accordance with technical
specifications provided by the State Board of Elections, each
election authority shall maintain a voter registration system
capable of receiving and processing voter registration
application information, including electronic signatures, from
the online voter registration system established by the State
Board of Elections.
(b) The online voter registration system shall employ
security measures to ensure the accuracy and integrity of voter
registration applications submitted electronically pursuant to
this Section.
(c) The Board may receive voter registration information
provided by applicants using electronic voter registration

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portals the State Board of Elections' website, may cross
reference that information with data or information contained
in the Secretary of State's database in order to match the
information submitted by applicants, and may receive from the
Secretary of State the applicant's digitized signature upon a
successful match of that applicant's information with that
contained in the Secretary of State's database.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a person
who is qualified to register to vote and who has an authentic
Illinois driver's license or State identification card issued
by the Secretary of State may submit an application to register
to vote electronically on a website maintained by the State
Board of Elections.
(e) An online voter registration application shall contain
all of the information that is required for a paper application
as provided in Section 1A-16 of this Code, except that the
applicant shall be required to provide:
(1) the applicant's full Illinois driver's license or
State identification card number;
(2) the last 4 digits of the applicant's social
security number; and
(3) the date the Illinois driver's license or State
identification card was issued.
(f) For an applicant's registration or change in
registration to be accepted, the applicant shall mark the box
associated with the following statement included as part of the

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online voter registration application:
"By clicking on the box below, I swear or affirm all of the
following:
(1) I am the person whose name and identifying information
is provided on this form, and I desire to register to vote in
the State of Illinois.
(2) All the information I have provided on this form is
true and correct as of the date I am submitting this form.
(3) I authorize the Secretary of State to transmit to the
State Board of Elections my signature that is on file with the
Secretary of State and understand that such signature will be
used by my local election authority on this online voter
registration application for admission as an elector as if I
had signed this form personally.".
(g) Immediately upon receiving a completed online voter
registration application, the online voter registration system
shall send, by electronic mail, a confirmation notice that the
application has been received. Within 48 hours of receiving
such an application, the online voter registration system shall
send by electronic mail, a notice informing the applicant of
whether the following information has been matched with the
Secretary of State database:
(1) that the applicant has an authentic Illinois
driver's license or State identification card issued by the
Secretary of State and that the driver's license or State
identification number provided by the applicant matches

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the driver's license or State identification card number
for that person on file with the Secretary of State;
(2) that the date of issuance of the Illinois driver's
license or State identification card listed on the
application matches the date of issuance of that card for
that person on file with the Secretary of State;
(3) that the date of birth provided by the applicant
matches the date of birth for that person on file with the
Secretary of State; and
(4) that the last 4 digits of the applicant's social
security number matches the last 4 digits for that person
on file with the Secretary of State.
(h) If the information provided by the applicant matches
the information on the Secretary of State's databases for any
driver's license and State identification card holder and is
matched as provided in subsection (g) above, the online voter
registration system shall:
(1) retrieve from the Secretary of State's database
files an electronic copy of the applicant's signature from
his or her Illinois driver's license or State
identification card and such signature shall be deemed to
be the applicant's signature on his or her online voter
registration application;
(2) within 2 days of receiving the application, forward
to the county clerk or board of election commissioners
having jurisdiction over the applicant's voter

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registration: (i) the application, along with the
applicant's relevant data that can be directly loaded into
the jurisdiction's voter registration system and (ii) a
copy of the applicant's electronic signature and a
certification from the State Board of Elections that the
applicant's driver's license or State identification card
number, driver's license or State identification card date
of issuance, and date of birth and social security
information have been successfully matched.
(i) Upon receipt of the online voter registration
application, the county clerk or board of election
commissioners having jurisdiction over the applicant's voter
registration shall promptly search its voter registration
database to determine whether the applicant is already
registered to vote at the address on the application and
whether the new registration would create a duplicate
registration. If the applicant is already registered to vote at
the address on the application, the clerk or board, as the case
may be, shall send the applicant by first class mail, and
electronic mail if the applicant has provided an electronic
mail address on the original voter registration form for that
address, a disposition notice as otherwise required by law
informing the applicant that he or she is already registered to
vote at such address. If the applicant is not already
registered to vote at the address on the application and the
applicant is otherwise eligible to register to vote, the clerk

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or board, as the case may be, shall:
(1) enter the name and address of the applicant on the
list of registered voters in the jurisdiction; and
(2) send by mail, and electronic mail if the applicant
has provided an electronic mail address on the voter
registration form, a disposition notice to the applicant as
otherwise provided by law setting forth the applicant's
name and address as it appears on the application and
stating that the person is registered to vote.
(j) An electronic signature of the person submitting a
duplicate registration application or a change of address form
that is retrieved and imported from the Secretary of State's
driver's license or State identification card database as
provided herein may, in the discretion of the clerk or board,
be substituted for and replace any existing signature for that
individual in the voter registration database of the county
clerk or board of election commissioners.
(k) Any new registration or change of address submitted
electronically as provided in this Section shall become
effective as of the date it is received by the county clerk or
board of election commissioners having jurisdiction over said
registration. Disposition notices prescribed in this Section
shall be sent within 5 business days of receipt of the online
application or change of address by the county clerk or board
of election commissioners.
(l) All provisions of this Code governing voter

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registration and applicable thereto and not inconsistent with
this Section shall apply to online voter registration under
this Section. All applications submitted on a website
maintained by the State Board of Elections shall be deemed
timely filed if they are submitted no later than 11:59 p.m. on
the 16th day prior to an election. After the registration
period for an upcoming election has ended and until the 2nd day
following such election, the web page containing the online
voter registration form on the State Board of Elections website
shall inform users of the procedure for grace period voting.
(m) The State Board of Elections shall maintain a list of
the name, street address, e-mail address, and likely precinct,
ward, township, and district numbers, as the case may be, of
people who apply to vote online through the voter registration
system and those names and that information shall be stored in
an electronic format on its website, arranged by county and
accessible to State and local political committees.
(n) The Illinois State Board of Elections shall develop or
cause to be developed an online voter registration system able
to be accessed by at least the top two most used mobile
electronic operating systems by January 1, 2016.
(o) (Blank).
(p) Each State department that maintains an Internet
website must include a hypertext link to the homepage website
maintained and operated pursuant to this Section 1A-16.5. For
the purposes of this Section, "State department" means the

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departments of State Government listed in Section 5-15 of the
Civil Administrative Code of Illinois (General Provisions and
Departments of State Government).
(Source: P.A. 98-115, eff. 7-29-13; 98-756, eff. 7-16-14;
98-1171, eff. 6-1-15; 99-522, eff. 6-30-16.)
(10 ILCS 5/3-6)
Sec. 3-6. Voting and registration age.
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a person
who is otherwise qualified to vote may preregister to vote on
or after that person's 16th birthday, with the registration
held in abeyance by the appropriate election authority until
that individual attains the required age to vote.
Preregistration under this subsection (a) shall be completed
using the online voter registration system, including in person
with a designated government agency, as provided in Section
1A-16.6, and through the automatic government agency voter
registration portal, as provided in Section 16.7, or an
electronic voter registration portal, as provided in Section
1A-16.5.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a person
who is 17 years old on the date of a caucus, general primary
election, or consolidated primary election and who is otherwise
qualified to vote is qualified to vote at that caucus, general
primary, or consolidated primary, including voting a vote by
mail, grace period, or early voting ballot with respect to that

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general primary or consolidated primary, if that person will be
18 years old on the date of the immediately following general
election or consolidated election for which candidates are
nominated at that primary.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an
individual who is 17 years of age, will be 18 years of age on
the date of the immediately following general or consolidated
election, and is otherwise qualified to vote shall be deemed
eligible to circulate a nominating petition or a petition
proposing a public question.
(d) For the purposes of this Code, a person who is 16 years
of age or older shall be deemed competent to execute and attest
to any voter registration forms.
(e) References in this Code and elsewhere to the
requirement that a person must be 18 years old to vote shall be
interpreted in accordance with this Section.
For the purposes of this Code, an individual who is 17
years of age and who will be 18 years of age on the date of the
general or consolidated election shall be deemed competent to
execute and attest to any voter registration forms. An
individual who is 17 years of age, will be 18 years of age on
the date of the immediately following general or consolidated
election, and is otherwise qualified to vote shall be deemed
eligible to circulate a nominating petition or a petition
proposing a public question.
(Source: P.A. 99-722, eff. 8-5-16; 100-201, eff. 8-18-17.)