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1 | AN ACT concerning elections.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The Election Code is amended by adding Section | |||||||||||||||||||
5 | 11-9 as follows: | |||||||||||||||||||
6 | (10 ILCS 5/11-9 new) | |||||||||||||||||||
7 | Sec. 11-9. Vote center pilot program; Champaign County. | |||||||||||||||||||
8 | (a) As used in this Section, "vote center" means a polling | |||||||||||||||||||
9 | place at which any registered elector or eligible elector in | |||||||||||||||||||
10 | the political subdivision holding the election may vote, | |||||||||||||||||||
11 | regardless of the precinct in which the elector resides. | |||||||||||||||||||
12 | (b) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, | |||||||||||||||||||
13 | the election authority in Champaign County may establish a | |||||||||||||||||||
14 | pilot program that creates one or more vote centers for any | |||||||||||||||||||
15 | election. The election authority shall publish the location of | |||||||||||||||||||
16 | the vote centers pursuant to Article 12. | |||||||||||||||||||
17 | (c) If vote centers are used in an election in a political | |||||||||||||||||||
18 | subdivision, precinct polling places shall not also be used in | |||||||||||||||||||
19 | the election in that political subdivision, unless each | |||||||||||||||||||
20 | precinct polling place has a secure electronic connection to | |||||||||||||||||||
21 | provide voting information to and receive voting information | |||||||||||||||||||
22 | from the online voter registration system maintained by the | |||||||||||||||||||
23 | election authority. |
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1 | (d) Each vote center used shall have a secure electronic | ||||||
2 | connection to the online voter registration system maintained | ||||||
3 | by the election authority permitting all voting information | ||||||
4 | processed by any computer at a vote center to be immediately | ||||||
5 | accessible to all other computers at all vote centers in the | ||||||
6 | county and the ability for each voter to securely cast their | ||||||
7 | ballot in a tabulation machine designed and programmed to | ||||||
8 | accept all ballot styles for the current election. | ||||||
9 | (e) The number, location, and manner of operation and | ||||||
10 | location of vote centers shall be determined by the election | ||||||
11 | authority based on this Section. | ||||||
12 | There shall be at least one vote center per political | ||||||
13 | subdivision (excluding townships) with a population of at | ||||||
14 | least 2,500. Additional sites shall be added for every 5,000 | ||||||
15 | registered voters in the political subdivision. If a | ||||||
16 | geographical area exists in a county where there is no voting | ||||||
17 | center required based on population within a 7.5 mile radius | ||||||
18 | of a political subdivision, a precinct-based polling location | ||||||
19 | or a vote center must be utilized. Number and placement of | ||||||
20 | multiple vote centers in a political subdivision shall include | ||||||
21 | abutting precincts that are in unincorporated area. The | ||||||
22 | election authority shall calculate the population based upon | ||||||
23 | the federal decennial census immediately preceding the | ||||||
24 | election. | ||||||
25 | There shall be at least one vote center: in each | ||||||
26 | minority-majority county board district (based upon the |
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1 | federal decennial census immediately preceding the election); | ||||||
2 | on a university campus; in the clerk's office or appropriate | ||||||
3 | designation as determined by the clerk; and in every 10 | ||||||
4 | contiguous precincts, regardless of township, where there are | ||||||
5 | no more than 10,000 active voters. The vote center at the | ||||||
6 | university shall be at the student union or other common area | ||||||
7 | open to the public and shall be conducted as required under | ||||||
8 | Section 1-12, including early voting, grace period | ||||||
9 | registration, and grace period voting. | ||||||
10 | The election authority reserves the right to use any | ||||||
11 | public building as vote center for any or all of the voting | ||||||
12 | period. Upon request by an election authority, a unit of local | ||||||
13 | government shall make the unit's public buildings within the | ||||||
14 | election authority's jurisdiction available as a vote center, | ||||||
15 | which may or may not, at the election authority's discretion, | ||||||
16 | serve early voting, without charge. The unit of local | ||||||
17 | government shall make the building available at a reasonable | ||||||
18 | time before and after the period of voting is conducted at that | ||||||
19 | building. The unit of local government shall ensure that any | ||||||
20 | portion of the building made available is accessible to voters | ||||||
21 | with disabilities and elderly voters. | ||||||
22 | (f) Vote centers shall receive and return all election | ||||||
23 | supplies and ballots as a single entity, not by individual | ||||||
24 | precinct requirements. Any other statutory reference | ||||||
25 | pertaining to precinct-based polling places shall apply to | ||||||
26 | vote centers as a single entity, not as housing individual |
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1 | precincts. | ||||||
2 | (g) On election day, all vote centers shall be open for | ||||||
3 | voting from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Anyone in line at 7 p.m. is | ||||||
4 | entitled to vote. Each vote center or precinct-based polling | ||||||
5 | place shall, at minimum, have 2 voter-processing stations. For | ||||||
6 | a vote center or precinct-based polling place with more than | ||||||
7 | 3,000 registered voters, each center or polling place shall | ||||||
8 | have an additional 1 voter-processing station for up to 1,000 | ||||||
9 | registered voters. | ||||||
10 | The minimum number of election judges during early voting | ||||||
11 | per polling place, either vote center or precinct-based, shall | ||||||
12 | be the number of voter processing stations plus 1. Of the | ||||||
13 | minimum 3 election judges, one shall be a member of the | ||||||
14 | political party represented by a majority of the commissioners | ||||||
15 | and one a member of the political party represented by a | ||||||
16 | minority of such commissioners. The first time a vote center | ||||||
17 | is used as the home precinct (the precinct the vote center is | ||||||
18 | physically located in), the majority/minority political party | ||||||
19 | representation as provided in this paragraph determines | ||||||
20 | election judge ratios. In subsequent elections, the political | ||||||
21 | party representation shall be determined by the voter turnout | ||||||
22 | at that site in the previous primary election. | ||||||
23 | A minimum of one voting booth is required for every 500 | ||||||
24 | registered voters in a political subdivision and the voting | ||||||
25 | booths shall be evenly divided between the vote centers within | ||||||
26 | that political subdivision. For every 5 booths required, a |
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1 | minimum of one must be ADA compliant. If less than 5 booths are | ||||||
2 | required, at least 1 ADA-compliant booth is required. Partial | ||||||
3 | numbers shall be rounded to the next highest whole number. | ||||||
4 | Vote centers shall have at least 1 specimen copy of every | ||||||
5 | ballot style available for voter review upon request. | ||||||
6 | The Champaign County Clerk has the discretion to | ||||||
7 | reasonably adjust additional procedures outlined in this Code | ||||||
8 | to fit the use of vote centers. | ||||||
9 | (h) All vote center provisions outlined in this Section | ||||||
10 | apply to the use of vote centers as early voting sites. Vote | ||||||
11 | centers opened as early voting site must open at least 1 day | ||||||
12 | before Election Day and offer at least 6 hours of voting time | ||||||
13 | on weekdays and 4 hours on Saturday and Sunday. | ||||||
14 | Election judge coverage for early voting at a vote center | ||||||
15 | may be done in shifts and entire days of service are not | ||||||
16 | required. On election day, judges must serve the entire day. | ||||||
17 | (i) Election judges for vote centers must attend 4 hours | ||||||
18 | of training and pass a test drafted by the Champaign County | ||||||
19 | Clerk. Commissioned judges are not exempt from the training | ||||||
20 | and test required in this subsection. | ||||||
21 | (j) If any provision of law conflicts with any part of this | ||||||
22 | Section, this Section prevails. | ||||||
23 | (k) This Section is repealed on January 1, 2025.
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