Voting behind bars: Chicago Cook County's huge jail becomes a first-time polling precinct

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More than four decades after the Supreme Court upheld the right to vote for people in pretrial detention, many Americans remain blocked from exercising that right because states don’t have procedures in place to allow access. Illinois is no longer one of them, with a new law requiring all jails to ensure that some 20,000 pretrial detainees have an opportunity to vote.

In Chicago, Sheriff Tom Dart is an enthusiastic supporter. The jail he oversees is the nation’s second largest. About 95 percent of its 5,700 inmates are awaiting trial, some of them for as long as a few years.

“I don’t know if there’s a heck of a lot more [than voting] that connects you to your community,” Dart said. “You’re connected because you’re engaged in the issues that matter in your community. You’re making your voice heard.”

The jail will have more than a half-dozen temporary polling locations supervised by the Cook County Clerk’s Office and Chicago Board of Elections, which expect much interest given the presidential campaign and contentious races for state’s attorney and a congressional seat. Voting will take place in the jail’s gyms, chapels, law library and other special spaces during the two weekends leading up to the March 17 election.

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Sheriff Tom Dart

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/voting-behind-bars-cook-countys-huge-jail-becomes-a-first-time-polling-precinct/2020/03/05/5bf10fc0-581c-11ea-9000-f3cffee23036_story.html

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1. Our governor signed the criminal justice bill this summer

Gov. J.B. Pritzker yesterday signed a suite of criminal justice laws that burnish his progressive bona fides and expand election access and education to jail detainees and prisoners statewide. One significant change—the Cook County Jail will have its own polling place.

While the jail's population traditionally hovers around 6,000, turnout via absentee ballot voting there has been low in recent elections. Advocates hope the bill expands participation in Cook County and at jails across the state.

"Illinois will continue to stand strong, even as our country takes a dangerous turn toward deeper disenfranchisement of minority communities,” Pritzker said at the bill signing. "Especially as the Voting Rights Act remains gutted, especially as jurisdictions across the nation purge voter rolls and restrict registrations in college towns and communities of color, here in Illinois, we'll do our best to live up to the ideals of our democracy."

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/government/chicagos-newest-polling-location-cook-county-jail