This policy update highlights recent developments in voting rights and election administration in Illinois, including proposed reforms to judicial elections, vote-by-mail accessibility, and ongoing efforts to strengthen state-level voting rights protections. As federal voting rights safeguards continue to evolve, these legislative proposals underscore the importance of ensuring equitable access to the ballot and fair representation for all Illinois communities, including South Asian Americans.
Though a lot of important bills have been introduced during the 104th Illinois General Assembly (2025-26), we focus here on bills that are still in consideration and eligible for movement as of April 2026. Here are some quick updates on Illinois voter rights legislation we’re tracking.
Senate Bill 0143 – Judicial Campaign Reform Act
Aims
The bill will amend the State Finance Act to create a voluntary public financing program, called the Illinois Judicial Election Democracy Trust Fund. Administered by the Illinois State Board of Elections, it is financed by an annual transfer from state tax revenues, income tax check-offs, and voluntary contributions. This fund would provide candidates running for judge positions in the Illinois Supreme Court and Appellate Court with an avenue to receive public funding for their campaigns, as opposed to relying on private donations. The bill also sets mandatory contribution limits for all judicial election campaigns, establishes terms of participation, and penalties for violations.
Sponsor(s)
Senator Rachel Ventura (D-Joliet) introduced the bill in January 2025.
Status
On March 27th, 2026, the Senate set a procedural deadline under Rule 2-10, that the committee must take action on the bill by April 24, 2026. It was referred to the Elections committee in February 2026 and is eligible for committee action this session, but it has not yet advanced to a floor vote.
Impact
The bill aims to reduce the influence of special interests and large private donors in judicial races. Illinois passed legislation (Senate Bill 536) in November 2021 aimed at reducing outside influence in judicial elections by setting a $500,000 campaign contribution limit and prohibiting judicial candidates against accepting money from individuals outside of Illinois. However, in October 2022, U.S. District Court Judge John Tharp Jr. found this law unconstitutional in Chancey v. Illinois State Board of Elections, and struck it down. Prior to the ban, Illinois saw massive spending from outside sources, and this ruling only strengthened the potential for donors to influence judicial elections.
By changing how high-level judicial campaigns are funded in Illinois, this bill would support fair and transparent elections for Illinois judges and bolster flagging public trust in the judiciary. Moreover, judicial campaigns have become increasingly partisan and influenced by interest groups, as political committees fund massive advertising campaigns and attract out-of-state donors. It may also make judicial races more accessible to candidates who lack major fundraising networks, and potentially diversify the candidate pool. This is critical for a political race that has attracted fewer candidates and become less competitive, due in no small part to the high cost of campaigning. For example during the March 17th Primaries, less than half of the seats up for grabs in Cook County drew more than one candidate. SB 0143 could help voters by promoting a more independent and less donor-influenced judiciary, increasing confidence that courts will treat their communities fairly.
Illinois Senate Bills 3511 and 0060
Aims
Both bills would amend the election code. SB 60 would require the State Board of Elections (in coordination with election authorities) to implement a secure, free vote-by-mail tracking system, allowing voters to check their ballot’s status with the election authority. SB 3511 also includes a provision for a vote-by-mail tracking system, but goes on to designate General Election Day (in even-numbered years) as a State holiday, observed throughout Illinois; It also stipulates that any voter who is in line at the time an early-voting place closes is allowed to cast their ballot.
Sponsor(s)
SB 60 was filed by Sen. Jill Tracy (R) in January 2025, and co-sponsored by Senators Julie Morrison (D), Terri Bryant (R) and Laura Murphy (D) – a bipartisan initiative. SB 3511 was filed by Senator Julie Morrison (D) in February 2026.
Status
Both bills were referred to the Elections Committee in February 2026, and on March 27th 2026 both were assigned a Rule 2-10 Committee Deadline for April 24, 2026. Thus, they are eligible for committee action this session, but have not yet advanced to a floor vote.
Impact
This duo aims to enhance election transparency and voter confidence by tracking mail-in ballots. Though ballots can currently be tracked using the Illinois State Board of Elections, the lack of a centralized, universal tracking system can make this process confusing and time-consuming, especially for first-time voters, voters with limited English proficiency or those requiring additional support.
Mail-in ballots have come under legal challenges and intense scrutiny under the current administration.Recent changes to Illinois mail-in ballot administration were detailed in the last issue of SAAPRI’s Democracy and Civic Action newsletter. They have threatened to strip many individuals of their votes, even if their ballots were mailed back by Election Day. Thus, a centralized tracking system implemented by these bills has the potential to facilitate voter trust by increasing transparency and accountability in the mail-in voting process.
Finally, SB 3511 also includes measures to increase voter accessibility and turnout on Election Day. Though Illinois voters already have the right to vote if they are in line when the polls close on Election Day, the bill would codify this right and expand it to include early voting. Furthermore, a large body of research exists on how making Election Day a holiday could increase voter turnout and representation. There is no federal law that requires voters be provided time off to cast their ballot, and though Illinois law currently permits employees to take up to two hours of paid time off to vote, private businesses and employers are not required to close. Given that the most common reason registered voters cited for not voting in 2022 was “too busy, conflicting work or school schedule,” these measures would address longstanding barriers to Illinois voters and enshrine protections into state law, furthering the state’s reputation of having some of the most open voting laws in the country.
The Renewed Push for an Updated Illinois Voting Rights Act and Redistricting Measures
Executive Summary
Previous editions of SAAPRI’s Policy Update Newsletter have examined the Illinois Voting Rights Act of 2011, including its limitations and prior legislative efforts to expand its provisions.
Recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions have significantly altered the legal framework governing the drawing and implementation of congressional redistricting maps ahead of the midterm elections. Notably, Louisiana v. Callais was a landmark decision in which the Supreme Court, in a 6-3 decision, ruled that Louisiana’s remedial congressional map was unconstitutional, stating that the state’s use of race as the primary factor to create this district constituted an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.
This ruling significantly weakened the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by effectively dismantling Section 2 of the VRA, and by making it exceptionally difficult to challenge racially discriminatory or diluted voting maps. From the precedents set by this ruling, the Supreme Court has issued decisions for maps in multiple states, including Alabama and Virginia.
In the wake of such decisions, several Illinois advocacy organizations including SAAPRI have renewed calls for codifying stronger state-level protections for Illinois voters. Against significantly weakened federal voting-rights protections, they are calling for the urgent passage of an updated Illinois Voting Rights Act and redistricting criteria.
In the first half of 2026, at least nine states enacted restrictive voting laws set to take effect during the November elections, introducing new barriers for eligible Americans seeking to register, cast ballots, or remain on voter rolls.
At the same time, Illinois has continued to play a role in efforts to expand voter protections at the state level. The state is among 42 nationwide that have considered more than 558 expansive voting rights bills in 2026.
This edition of our Newsletter will cover SB3170 – the most recent legislative push to improve the Illinois Voting Rights Act – and HJRCA28, a proposed constitutional amendment around redistricting criteria, which recently failed to pass.
SB3170
Illinois Senate Bill 3170, titled “The Voting Rights Act of 2026,” was introduced on February 2, 2026, by Democratic State Senator Graciela Guzmán. The bill later gained Democratic co-sponsors, including Senators Ram Villivalam, Mark Walker, Laura Murphy, and Emil Jones III.
SB3170 represents the latest iteration of a series of legislative efforts to expand Illinois’ 2011 Voting Rights Act, which, while an expansion of federal protections, is generally considered to provide fewer safeguards than those enacted in several peer states. The proposed updates in SB3170 would strengthen Illinois’ voting rights framework by incorporating provisions commonly found in more robust state-level voting rights acts.
These include language access requirements, state-level preclearance for certain election changes, clearer remedies for claims of voter dilution, and an explicit private and public right of action. The bill would also prohibit election policies or practices with discriminatory effects, expand multilingual election assistance requirements for non-English speaking voters, and establish mechanisms to challenge election administration practices, such as granting judges the authority to redraw maps they find discriminatory.
HJRCA28
House Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment 28 (HJRCA 28) was an Illinois proposal aiming to rewrite the state’s redistricting criteria. As a House Joint Resolution Constitutional Amendment (HJRCA), it proposed a change to the Illinois Constitution rather than a standalone law.
HJRCA28’s primary sponsor was Democratic House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, who introduced it on April 20, 2026 in a bid to codify racial protections in mapmaking – a legislative response to preempt Supreme Court rulings that would weaken the federal Voting Rights Act.
The amendment sought to revise Illinois’ redistricting criteria, including requirements for equal population, racial equity and district compactness – part of ongoing debate over how Illinois draws its legislative districts every 10 years.
By explicitly setting a ranked priority for redistricting criteria – maintaining equal populations, preventing racial discrimination, creating racial coalition districts where practical, and keeping districts contiguous and compact – it sought to prioritize race, equal population and voting-rights protections. It aimed to codify language tied to fair representation and minority voting rights considerations in map-drawing by establishing racial influence and coalition districts as a top priority.
Status
As of May 2026, SB3170 is still in the Illinois Senate and remains pending/stalled after the addition of co-sponsers in March 2026, and its referral to the Senate Assignments Committee. It has not yet received a substantive committee hearing or reached a Senate floor vote.
The Illinois Voting Rights Act of 2026 (SB3170) has support from a broad coalition of voting-rights and civil-rights organizations, including groups such as SAAPRI, along with community and faith-based organizations across Illinois. Democratic leaders also control both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly as well as the governor’s office, and several have publicly emphasized the need for stronger state-level protections in response to perceived federal voting-rights rollbacks.
However, despite this favorable political alignment and coalition support, SB3170’s path to passage in the current legislative session remains uncertain. The bill has not yet advanced out of committee, and its progression will depend on whether it is prioritized by legislative leadership and incorporated into the broader elections agenda before session’s deadline in late May.
HJRCA28 passed the House in April 2026 in a 74-38 vote, just days before the Supreme Court decided Louisiana vs. Callais on April 29th. However, The Louisiana v. Callais ruling established that race cannot be the primary factor when drawing districts, and that drawing congressional districts predominantly based on race, even to comply with the Voting Rights Act, violates the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.
Because HJRCA28 would have required the incorporation of racial criteria into how Illinois draws its legislative districts, the Supreme Court ruling rendered the proposed amendment’s mapmaking standards unconstitutional. The Senate did not call upon the measure for final action, and let the May 3rd deadline pass without taking a vote, effectively halting the measure for the session.
Significance to South Asian Americans
A strengthened Illinois Voting Rights Act would benefit all voters across the state, but its protections remain especially significant for South Asian Americans and other historically marginalized communities whose voting-eligible populations continue to face underrepresentation and systemic barriers to political participation.
For many South Asian communities in Illinois, limited English proficiency and inadequate language-access resources contribute to lower levels of voter engagement, turnout and representation. Provisions aimed at expanding language assistance, improving ballot access, and strengthening protections against discriminatory electoral practices are therefore critical to ensuring fuller and more equitable participation in the democratic process.
Furthermore, South Asians (among other voter minority groups) would benefit from reformed redistricting criteria because fair mapping would address the practice of partisan gerrymandering or racial “cracking”: the splitting of cohesive neighborhoods across multiple districts, as incumbent politicians draw lines to protect their seats by packing or diluting minority votes. By consolidating minority voter populations in contiguous, unified districts that more accurately reflect demographic growth and shared civic interests, South Asians and minority voters can form cohesive voting blocs that encourage elected officials to actively address specific community needs, and gives minority candidates a viable path to run for elected offices, increasing civic and government representation.