UpdatesThanks to everyone who joined us for our Annual “Party with Our Party” event at The Art Center Highland Park! It was a hot day – cool inside, thankfully – and we were fired up to hear from so many amazing Democratic elected officials and candidates as 2022 quickly approaches! We’ll keep doing our part in Moraine to help elect and re-elect Democrats in our area.
Illinois Leads: Strengthening Voting Rights Under Siege Across the Country
By Barbara Altman
While Republican-controlled states across the country are passing legislation to make it more difficult to vote, Illinois’ Democratic legislature and governor have just done just the opposite.
On June 15, Governor JB Pritzker signed into law amendments to the Illinois Election Code designed to make it easier for all those eligible to vote to exercise this precious constitutional right.
Some provisions of the 2021 legislation have been well-publicized. You probably know that Election Day in 2022—November 8th—will be a State holiday and that schools will be closed that day. The legislation further requires that these schools be available for use as Election Day polling places.
Public schools are in many ways ideal venues for polling places—many are in residential neighborhoods, people generally know where their local schools are, parking is usually adequate, and there is often ample space in gymnasiums.
Designating Election Day a State holiday also should make it easier for working people to get to the polls and for any parent to bring a school-age child along while they vote—a valuable civics lesson. Note that this particular change in the Election Code applies only to 2022.
Polling Place Confusion Eased
In addition to freeing up public schools for use as polling places, the new election law requires each election authority to offer at least one polling place on Election Day where any registered voter, regardless of precinct, can go to vote.
This provision eliminates the confusion many voters experience on Election Day when they learn that their assigned polling place has changed or that their recent move within the county has caused them to be assigned to a new polling place.
If they’re unsure where to go, there will be one place any registered voter can go on Election Day. Contrast this provision with the Republican change to Georgia’s election law that prohibits—except in limited circumstances—counting ballots cast in other than the voter’s assigned polling place. Texas Republicans are considering an even more stringent prohibition on counting ballots cast in the wrong polling place.
Schools Must Inform Students About Voting
What about expanding voter registration? Illinois’ new law requires every high school in the state to disseminate information to its students about how to register to vote, and “[n]o high school may prohibit nonpartisan voter registration activities on its premises,” the law states.
Drop Boxes Are Back
Mail-in voting also has been made easier. Our General Assembly and Governor made permanent the authority to establish drop boxes for the return of mail-in ballots.
That legislation also required that mailed ballots be accepted, regardless of the amount of postage the voter put on (or left off) the envelope.
Our own State Senator Julie Morrison was the chief Senate sponsor of this significant legislation.
Permanent Vote-by-Mail Option
Now, with the newest legislation, Illinois voters will have the option to apply for “permanent vote by mail status.” That is, you can ask to be sent a mail-in ballot for every election, without having to request it each time. You can cancel this ongoing request any time, and if a voter changes their registration, their permanent vote by mail status would be rescinded by the election authority.
Primary, Other Key 2022 Dates Moved
Because the 2020 Census was not completed on time, the new legislation rescheduled the 2022 primaries for much later in the year than usual, with dates for circulating and submitting nominating petitions adjusted accordingly.
Primary Election Day will be June 28, 2022; the first date for circulating petitions will be January 13, 2022; and petitions will be due in March of 2022.
| Upcoming Events
Thursday, 7/29: Mobile Museum of Tolerance Tour with Senator Julie Morrison. Parking lot of the Highland Park Recreation Center, 6pm, 1207 Park Avenue West, Highland Park.
Tuesday, 8/3: Fiscally Fit in 2021 with Holly Kim – You Can Bank On It (Banking Basics). Online event, noon.
Saturday, 8/7: Dan Didech and Holly Kim Re-election Campaign Party. O’Toole’s, 412 N. Milwaukee Ave., Libertyville, 6:30 to 8:30pm.
Sunday, 8/8: Meet and Greet for Senator Adriane Johnson. Bowen Park, 1800 N. Sheridan Road, Waukegan, 1:30-3pm.
Sunday, 8/8: March in the Gurnee Days Parade with Warren Township Dems, Brad Schneider, Team Underwood and Other Democratic Officials. Line up at 11am, step off at noon. Delaney Road between Rt. 41 and Old Grand Avenue, Gurnee.
Tuesday, 8/10: Brad Schneider’s “Congress on Your Corner” in Zion Zion address provided upon RSVP, 6-7 pm. Also streamed on Facebook.
Sunday, 8/15: Brad Schneider’s 60th Birthday Party. Address provided upon RSVP, 2-4pm.
Sunday, 8/15: Jonathan Carroll Event at Green Day’s Wrigley Field Concert. Skybox, 6pm. Gates open at 4:30pm.
Tuesday, 8/17: Brad Schneider’s “Congress on Your Corner” in Vernon Hills. Street address provided upon RSVP, 6-7pm. Also streamed on Facebook.
Wednesday, 8/18: ILDCCA 2021 Annual Chairs’ Brunch with Senator Jon Ossoff. All Democrats welcome. Crowne Plaza, 3000 S. Dirksen Parkway, Springfield. 9am, doors open at 8am.
Thursday, 8/19: Brad Schneider’s “Congress on Your Corner” in Wheeling. 6-7pm. Address provided upon RSVP. Also streamed on Facebook.
Thursday, 8/26: Personal PAC Highland Park House Party. Address provided upon RSVP, 6-8pm.
Thursday, 8/26: Brad Schneider’s “Congress on Your Corner” in Round Lake. Address provided upon RSVP, 6-7pm. Also streamed on Facebook.
Saturday, 8/28: “Bike the Tenth” with Congressman Brad Schneider. Des Plaines River Trail, Ride is 15.1 miles long. 9am to 10:15–10:30am.
Are you planning an event? Email us at info@lakedems.org. |
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Over 35 Not-For-Profit Groups To Have Opportunity To Discuss Their Organizations, Recruit Volunteers, And Work On Service Projects
Vernon Hills, IL — Ahead of their inauguration as Illinois’ next governor and lieutenant governor, JB Pritzker and Juliana Stratton have urged all of us in Illinois to give back to our communities. As a response to this call for a Day of Service, the Tenth Congressional District Democrats (Tenth Dems) is organizing a Day of Service Community Expo on Saturday, January 12th. It will be from 11 AM to 1 PM at the Sullivan Center, 635 N. Aspen Dr., Vernon Hills, IL 60061. Admission is free. The Community Expo will be a family-friendly event. Refreshments will be served.
The Community Expo will bring together local organizations and community members. At least 35 not-for-profits will have tables to showcase what they do, hand out flyers, recruit volunteers, and encourage attendees to take part in real-time service projects or sign up for future projects. This will be a great opportunity for community outreach and promoting volunteerism.
Tenth Dems believes politics should be about more than just elections–it’s about working together to improve our neighborhoods, state, country, and world. While Tenth Dems strives to do that year-round, the group will certainly put that into action on this Day of Service. January 12th has the potential to make a difference in the lives of thousands of neighbors. It will be a meaningful day at a critically important time for our state.
In addition to the centralized Community Expo, there will be many service projects going on in and around the 10th District on Saturday. These projects include:
• Lake Villa Democrats will be accepting donations on behalf of the Northern Illinois Food Bank and A Safe Place, from 2 PM to 4 PM at the Lake Villa District Library, 1001 East Grand Ave., Lake Villa. Northern Illinois Food Bank supplies food to local pantries throughout Northern Illinois for food-challenged families. People are asked to donate nonperishable foods (no glass containers). A list of requested items can be found at the bottom of this email. A Safe Place is Lake County’s sole provider of services exclusively focusing on domestic violence victims and their children. A Safe Place has a wish list too.
• Lake Forest Rotary Club has been collecting warm coats for kids who have nothing to wear (mostly in North Chicago, Waukegan, and for Nuestro Center in Highwood), Salvation Army bell-ringing and helping the Feed Our Starving Children program in Libertyville.
• Catholic Charities is holding a diaper drive for low-income households at Mickey Finn’s in Libertyville. Diapers are expensive, and dirty diapers are harmful to babies’ health. On average, a healthy child will wear 50 diapers per week. Donating diapers helps alleviate this burden.
Tenth Dems is a grassroots political organization that works to elect Democrats to all levels of government within Illinois’ 10th Congressional District.
For questions about the Day of Service Community Expo, including your own group’s participation, email events@tenthdems.org.
Deerfield, IL — The Tenth Congressional District Democrats (Tenth Dems) will hold its Annual Awards Dinner on Sunday, December 17, at 5:30 pm. There will be a buffet dinner for the event that will be held at the Hyatt Regency Deerfield, 1750 Lake Cook Road, Deerfield (I-294 at Lake Cook).
The Keynote Speaker will be Jill Wine-Banks, prominent Watergate prosecutor and frequent MSNBC contributor. Wine-Banks also led an effort to improve the military’s handling of sexual assault cases.
During the Watergate hearings, Wine-Banks played an integral role in questioning the events surrounding Richard Nixon’s secret tape recordings.
On cable news, Wine-Banks provides viewers invaluable insight into how a case can be built against a president and his aides, whether Nixon in the 1970s or Trump today.
In addition to the Keynote Speech, the Annual Awards Dinner will honor contributions to the group over the past year. The Mikva Leadership Award will be presented to Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza.
Tenth Dems is a grassroots organization that works to elect Democrats at all levels within Illinois’ 10th Congressional District, traditionally one of the most closely-watched districts.
For more information about the Annual Awards Dinner, go to www.tenthdems.org/jillwinebanks, email events@tenthdems.org, or call 847-266-VOTE (8683).
By Steven Gan
Do you remember the knee-jerk call and response at Trump rallies? Trump would yell out several times to his supporters, “Who’s going to pay for the wall?” Raising fists, the crowd would shout with one voice, “Mexico!”
That Trump would bring the Mexican government to its knees and make it pay for his big, bad, beautiful wall was just one of the fantastical promises that propelled him to the presidency.
In view of Trump’s 100 days of failures, reversals, and flip-flops, it doesn’t surprise me in the least that we don’t hear much about Mexico paying for the wall anymore, let alone how this monstrosity is even going to be built. Note that Trump never did explain exactly how we were going to force Mexico to foot the bill. But to Trump’s supporters, these annoying details were beside the point. All they cared about was the anti-immigration sentiment behind creating an impenetrable fortification.
Although it was fun while it lasted, now, as the rubber meets the road, some cold hard facts are coming into focus.
One of these facts, ironically, relates to statements by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, who is backing off Trump’s promise to build his version of the Great Wall of China. “You see, the border is complicated,” Zinke said back at the end of March when speaking to the Public Lands Council. He elaborated:
“The Rio Grande, what side of the river are you going to put the wall? We’re not going to put it on our side and cede the river to Mexico. And we’re probably not going to put it in the middle of the river.”
And then there’s the annoying fact that most of the land in Texas that’s along the Rio Grande is privately owned. The folks who own the land are not planning to sell cheaply, and they won’t allow the government to take their property (through eminent domain) without a fight that could take years. A number of these landowners, some of whose families have owned land bordering the river since the 18th century, are vowing to stand firm no matter the legal costs.
And did we mention the cost of the wall itself? Trump claimed at first that he could build the structure, everything said and done, for less than $10 billion. Now it’s estimated at $25 billion. But even if it’s $100 billion, don’t worry, because the Republicans will cancel social programs like Meals on Wheels that feed and support millions of poor Americans in order to pay for it.
Speaking of high costs to the government, let’s not forget Trump’s weekend jaunts down to the “southern White House” to escape from a week of dealing with all the world’s problems that he bragged only he could fix. As they say, when the going gets tough, the tough go to Mar-a-Lago.
But those of us opposed to any investment in an expensive new border wall can take heart. So far, Trump has reversed course on the importance of NATO, U.S. involvement in Syria, whether China is a currency manipulator, and more, so it’s likely that in time his grandiose border wall, with all of its immense challenges, will become just one more forgotten promise.
