Protecting Voter Access in Yesterday’s Illinois Elections

As local elections took place throughout Illinois on Tuesday, our legal volunteers answered dozens of calls to the 866-OUR-VOTE hotline from people who needed help voting.

From machine breakdowns to language barriers and COVID-19 violations, eligible voters had to overcome hurdles at many locations. Concerning instances of intimidation impacted voters in the West and South Suburbs, including in Blue Island, Berwyn, and Midlothian. Our pro bono attorneys were crucial to getting eyes on the ground and intervening on behalf of voters in many of these cases.

In a community with contested municipal races and a history of voter intimidation, two polling places that had been scheduled to open at 6am didn't allow voters to cast ballots until closer to noon. Berwyn voters who showed up were told to come back later, only to be turned away a second time because of machine issues.

Our advocates pressed the Cook County Clerk's office to keep these polling places open late. However, a court order wasn't obtained until late in the day, and officials made a belated effort to spread the news about the polling places' extended hours, virtually guaranteeing that some voters were disenfranchised by these problems. We are committed to continued support of voters in Berwyn to address the ongoing and unacceptable disenfranchisement there.

In Elgin, we heard reports about large groups of people not socially distanced in one polling place, and we were able to coordinate a solution with election judges and officials at the county clerk’s office. Voters in other townships reported a lack of mask-wearing, broken scanners, and incorrect ballots that caused confusion. We were able to assist on a number of fronts and to guide eligible voters through Election Day registration and vote-by-mail questions.

We also led a number of know-your-rights efforts in advance of this election, including civic education for voters in Cook County Jail and community events in partnership with CASA Blue Island, Southsiders for Peace, and NAACP Chicago Far South Suburban Branch.

We are indebted to our community partners, our pro bono volunteers, our Election Protection colleagues at Kirkland & Ellis LLP and the national Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and our supporters who helped share the 866-OUR-VOTE hotline and problem-solved so many of yesterday's voter access issues. Thank you all.