In Illinois, automatic voter registration raising concerns about noncitizens

by: Catrina Petersen | The Center Square
2024-05-23
Source: Just The News
05/23/2024

a close up of a toothbrush with the word vote written on it by Element5 Digital is licensed under unsplash.com

(The Center Square) - An Illinois Senate bill aims to streamline the automatic voter registration process to include applicants for both standard driver licenses, which non-citizens can now obtain, and REAL IDs for those who provide documentation of U.S. citizenship.

State Sen. Ram Villivalam, D-Chicago, amended Senate Bill 496 and said that applicants who present immigration documents will not be registered to vote.

“Programming is in place to prevent the [automatic] voter registration process from launching,” said Villivalam during a committee hearing late Wednesday.

Illinois already has an automatic voter registration in place but Villivalam’s bill would expand it to include REAL IDs.