League Weighs In On Permanent Vote by Mail

The following article, published by the Tribune-Star on August 18, 2022, features Kathy Kenny, LWVIL Vice President of Voter Service.

Illinoisans get option to become permanent mail-in voters

Counties beginning process of distributing applications to all registered voters

By Mark Bennett

There's an opportunity for more people in Illinois to participate in democracy and their communities. Voting is becoming more accessible in the Land of Lincoln this month.

That chance will arrive in their mailboxes. Every registered voter in the state should receive an application to vote by mail. It will offer the option of voting by mail permanently, or for just the upcoming Nov. 8 midterm election.

Voting by mail isn't new in Illinois, but the choice for a voter to receive a mail-in ballot permanently is new. The Illinois General Assembly made that option a law in 2021, and the mailing of applications for permanent vote-by-mail status began Aug. 10. The law requires local election authorities — the county clerk's office in most cases — to notify all registered voters of the permanent vote-by-mail option no more than 90 days nor fewer than 45 days before an election.

That's a good step for civic engagement in Illinois.

It also stands in contrast to Indiana, where voting by mail is more restricted and turnouts are among the nation's lowest.

"I do think that if people are on the permanent status, it also reminds them to vote, which could affect turnout in a positive way," said Kathy Kenny, vice president of voter service for the nonpartisan League of Women Voters of Illinois, which has 41 local chapters around the state.

"I think, with vote-by-mail being easier to access, we have higher turnouts," Kenny added.

The popularity of voting by mail surged in 2020, when many states expanded access to that method of casting ballots amid precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Forty-six percent of Americans cast mail-in votes that year, compared to less than 25% in 2016. In 2020, Indiana opened mail-in voting to all registered Hoosiers for that year's delayed primary, but reverted to most of its restrictions for the general election. Nonetheless, nearly half a million Hoosiers voted by mail then.

Illinois adopted no-excuse absentee voting in 2009, offering any registered voter the opportunity to vote by mail. Turnout in 2020 among eligible voters (those eligible regardless of their registration status) stood at 67% in Illinois, 29th best in the nation, according to the United States Election Project at the University of Florida. Indiana's eligible voter turnout was 61.4%, ninth-lowest.

Of course, the integrity of voting by mail grew controversial as former President Donald Trump repeated false claims of widespread voter fraud, which have been disproved by election officials of both major parties in multiple states and by federal and state courts.

When asked if she was confident of Illinois' vote-by-mail security, Kenny said, "Absolutely," and cited the value of electronic poll books to detect duplicated ballots by a voter. Voter fraud cases are rare. "We have a hard enough time getting people to vote once," Kenny said.

County clerks in Clark and Edgar counties aren't yet sure whether the added option of permanent mail-in voting status will boost turnouts.

"I hope it does," said Laurie Lee, Clark County's clerk-recorder since 2018. "The end goal is that voter turnout is increased."

Applications for permanent mail-in voting hadn't yet gone out to Clark Countians as of Wednesday, but "it will be very soon," Lee said.

In Edgar County, clerk-recorder Augie Griffin wondered if younger generations of voters will take advantage of the opportunity to permanently vote by mail. "I don't know that putting them on a permanent vote-by-mail basis, whether that will increase turnout," Griffin said.

The permanent vote-by-mail applications should be mailed to Edgar County registered voters soon. "Our election vendor has indicated that notices will be mailed within a week," Griffin said. "The notice will be posted on our website, www.edgarcountyillinois.com."

Approximately 1 in 5 voters in Clark and Edgar counties voted by mail in June's midterm primary election — 19.1% in Clark, 20.8% in Edgar. Voters from both parties utilized that option, considering that only about 350 total voters in each county chose Democratic Party ballots, and more than 560 total mail-in ballots were cast by voters of both parties combined in this summer's primary.

An effort to offer a permanent vote-by-mail option for elderly and disabled Hoosiers was introduced in a Senate bill by Sen. J.D. Ford in last spring's 2022 session of the Indiana General Assembly. The proposal by Ford — a Democrat representing parts of Hamilton, Marion and Boone counties — died in the Senate Elections Committee. Republicans hold super-majorities in the Senate and House.

"It's very frustrating that even such a modest step in voting access is a bridge too far for the Indiana General Assembly," Julia Vaughn, executive director of Common Cause Indiana, said Thursday.

As of January, 16 states — some blue, some red, some purple politically — and the District of Columbia offered permanent mail-in voting status to registered voters at some level. Those include Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, D.C, Delaware, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin. Eight states allowed it for disabled voters. Three allowed it to disabled and senior voters. Six offered it to all voters; generally blue Illinois has now joined that list.

The number could grow, figures Kathy Kenny of the League of Women Voters of Illinois. "Once several states have permanent vote-by-mail status, I suspect other states will want that as well," she said.

If so, Indiana will likely be among the last to do so.