RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, The City of Chicago recognizes the importance of the participation of every eligible citizen in elections, and further recognizes that there are many persons who are eligible to vote, but are not registered voters; and
WHEREAS, Automatic voter registration offers eligible citizens who interact with certain governmental agencies the opportunity to be automatically registered to vote; and
WHEREAS, Such laws create a process that is seamless, more convenient, and less error-prone for both government officials and voters, and have the effect of boosting voter registration rates, making voting more convenient, and reducing the potential for voter fraud; and
WHEREAS, Expanded voter registration and participation boosts confidence in the electoral system, and has been made more important in light of foreign interference in the most recent presidential election; and
WHEREAS, Laws providing for automatic voter registration have become a national trend. These laws have already been enacted in nine states and the District of Columbia, and have been introduced in another 32 states, including Illinois; and
WHEREAS, Illinois Senate Bill 1933 would implement automatic voter registration in Illinois. This bill provides for eligible citizens to be automatically registered to vote when conducting business with the Secretary of State, and agencies within the Departments of Human Services, Employment Security, Financial and Professional Regulation, Natural Resources, and any other agency or department that has access to reliable personal information; and
WHEREAS, It has been estimated that SB 1933 would add approximately 1 million of the 2.2 million unregistered but eligible Illinois citizens to the voter rolls; and
WHEREAS, SB 1933 represents the second attempt by Illinois to implement automatic voter registration, after Governor Bruce Rauner vetoed the first attempt because of unfounded concerns over voter fraud; and
WHEREAS, In a remarkable show of bipartisan support, in May the Illinois General Assembly unanimously passed Senate Bill 1933, and sent the bill to Governor Rauner on June 29, 2017; and
WHEREAS, Despite public assurances that he would sign SB 1933 into law, Governor Rauner has yet to act on this important legislation; and
WHEREAS, If Governor Rauner signs SB 1933 into law, Illinois would become the tenth state to have automatic voter registration; and
WHEREAS, Governor Rauner must stop playing politics with a fundamental democratic right and sign SB 1933 into law; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED, That we, the Mayor and the Members of the City Council, assembled this twenty-sixth day of July, 2017, reaffirm our commitment to the democratic