State Senator Dale Righter, of Illinois’ 55 district, spoke out against an automatic voter registration law that passed in the Illinois Senate on Wednesday. Governor Rauner’s veto of Senate Bill 250 was overridden by the Democratic super-majority in the Senate. Senator Righter says the bill will open the door to illegal citizens casting votes.
“This legislation would register to vote those who are in this state illegally,” Righter said. “This goes to the heart of voter integrity, and that is, whether people in the country in violation of federal law will be registered to vote, also in violation of the law.”
Righter also suggested that the bill violates resident’s rights to opt out of being registered to vote. As part of the bill, when Illinoisans renew driver’s licences they automatically registered. An “opt out” option is sent in the mail after the fact.
“The fact this legislation also doesn’t require an individual to prove they meet voter registration requirements, or in other words, they live in this country legally, is an obvious red flag,” Righter said. “Voter apathy is the issue here, not the ability to register to vote. Voting in this country should be safeguarded to the maximum. This only opens to the door to voter fraud and abuse, which puts the very nature of democracy in jeopardy.”