New voting-rights push surfaces in Springfield to prevent suppression at the polls

SPRINGFIELD—Sweeping voting-rights legislation emerged Thursday to strengthen the hands of Illinois judges to take control of disputes over redistricting and give expanded safeguards to non-English speaking voters.The bill sponsored by state Sen. Graciela Guzman (D-Chicago) would codify much of the Federal Voting Rights Act into state law as insurance in case that law is repealed by Republicans in Congress. If passed, the changes to state law would take effect July 1 ahead of November’s general election.“The last year has made one thing remarkably clear: Democracy does not run on autopilot,” she said. “It only survives if people are willing to protect it, and at the center of that responsibility is a fundamental right to vote.”The bill would specifically grant judges the ability to redraw racially imbalanced legislative maps and require non-English speaking voters receive translated ballots, access to bilingual poll workers, or over-the-phone non-English assistance, among other things.The legislation comes amid GOP attempts to weaken longstanding federal voting protections by requiring proof of citizenship and photo ID at the ballot box as well as attempts to invalidate mail-in-ballots.Democrats controlled legislative map-making, which preserved the party’s supermajority hold over the General Assembly.Roderick Wilson, executive director of the Bronzeville-based Lugenia Burns Hope Center, says that gerrymandering of legislative districts has come at the expense of Black and Brown representation.“A democracy is supposed to represent you,” Wilson said. “For people of color in America, we haven’t had representation in a long time.“The Federal Voting Rights Act was about protecting people…was about protecting people…

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