A free and fair election involves political freedoms and fair processes leading up to the vote, a fair count of eligible voters who cast a ballot, and acceptance of election results by all parties. – Robert Dahl
Our Mission
We’re dedicated to ensuring that all eligible voters have the opportunity to vote, and that elections are conducted with integrity. Our mission goals include: 1) no unlawful restrictions on eligible voters, 2) ease of voting access, 3) no ineligible votes cast or counted, and 4) public faith in election outcomes.
What are the best ways to prevent disenfranchsing voters?
Preventing voter disenfranchisement is crucial for maintaining the integrity of the democratic process and ensuring that every eligible voter has an equal opportunity to participate in elections. Some of the best ways to prevent voter disenfranchisement include:
Access to voter registration: Providing easy and accessible voter registration processes, such as online registration, can ensure that every eligible voter is able to register to vote.
Voter education: Educating citizens about their rights and the voting process can help prevent voter disenfranchisement.
Voter ID laws: Implementing voter ID laws in a manner that does not discriminate against certain groups of voters, such as low-income or minority voters, and ensuring that ID is easily accessible to everyone.
Early voting: Providing early voting options can help prevent voter disenfranchisement, as it allows citizens to vote at a time that is convenient for them.
Automatic voter registration: Implementing automatic voter registration when a person interacts with government agencies, such as the DMV, can increase voter registration rates and prevent voter disenfranchisement.
Language assistance: Providing language assistance to non-English speaking citizens can help prevent voter disenfranchisement, as it ensures that citizens are able to understand the voting process.
Access to polling places: Providing accessibility to polling places for people with disabilities and ensuring that polling places are located in accessible areas can help prevent voter disenfranchisement.
Voter protection laws: Implementing strong voter protection laws and ensuring that they are enforced can help prevent voter disenfranchisement, such as ensuring that voter intimidation and voter suppression are illegal.
Campaign and political financing regulations: Implementing regulations that limit the influence of big money in politics can help prevent voter disenfranchisement, as it ensures that every citizen’s vote is valued equally.
It’s important to note that preventing voter disenfranchisement requires a combination of legal, administrative and social measures, as well as the cooperation of government officials, political parties, and citizens.
To ensure public faith in election outcomes, the following steps should be taken:
Secure voter registration: Implementing strict voter registration processes, such as requiring valid identification, can prevent fraud, such as duplicate registrations or registrations of deceased individuals.
Voter ID laws: Implementing voter ID laws in a manner that does not discriminate against certain groups of voters, such as low-income or minority voters, and ensuring that ID is easily accessible to everyone.
Secure voting systems: Using secure voting systems, such as paper ballots or voting machines with a paper trail, can prevent fraud, such as hacking or manipulation of the machines.
Post-election audits: Conducting post-election audits can help detect and prevent fraud, such as vote counting errors or hacking.
Transparency: Making the voting process transparent and open to scrutiny can help ensure public faith in the election outcomes.
Communication: Communicating with citizens about the election process, voter rights and what to do if they suspect fraud can help ensure public faith in the election outcomes.
Cybersecurity measures: implementing cybersecurity measures to protect voting systems from hacking and other cyber attacks can help ensure public faith in the election outcomes.
Strong legal framework: having strong laws in place that criminalize election fraud and strict penalties for those who are found guilty can serve as a deterrent for those who want to engage in fraud and also help ensure public faith in the election outcomes.
Independent oversight: Establishing independent oversight bodies to monitor the electoral process, such as election observers and media monitoring teams, can help ensure transparency and accountability, and provide an independent assessment of the election process, which can help build public trust in the election outcomes.
Education and awareness: Educating citizens about the electoral process, their rights, and what to expect on election day, can help build public trust in the election outcomes.
Encourage voter participation: Encouraging voter participation, regardless of political affiliation, helps create a culture of civic engagement, which can help build public trust in the election outcomes.
Encourage political parties and candidates to show sportsmanship: Encouraging political parties and candidates to show sportsmanship, even in the face of defeat, can help prevent post-election violence and disputes, which can help build public trust in the election outcomes.
It’s important to note that ensuring public faith in election outcomes requires a combination of technical, legal, and administrative measures, as well as the cooperation of government officials, political parties, and citizens. It also requires continuous monitoring, updating and improvement of the systems in place.
The Power of Voting
A man without a vote is a man without protection. ― Lyndon B. Johnson
We do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate. ― Thomas Jefferson
If we don’t vote, we are ignoring history and giving away the future. ― Pat Michell
News
We have started efforts to assist Election Authorities clean voter rolls throughout the state of Illinois. We have mailed registered-voter-verification letters to directors of facilities where people are normally expected to live for only a limited period of time. Examples of these types of facilities to which we sent inquiries to directors in the last few weeks include 1) rehabilitation centers, 2) college dormitories, 3) homeless shelters, and 4) skilled nursing facilities, We are awaiting responses from facility directors.
