The General Assembly passed legislation to secure your right to vote safely in the 2020 General Election, and Gov. JB Pritzker signed it into law last week. Here are some changes you can expect to see this fall:

Election Day 2020 will be a state holiday.

To give Illinoisans a safe, central place to vote, schools will be used as polling places. Making Election Day a state holiday gives election authorities the time to clean these areas thoroughly to protect voters and students from the spread of COVID-19. It also means people will be able to vote whenever it is most convenient for them—no more long lines during the “rush hours” that occur when Election Day is a typical workday.

With schools closed, election authorities will also be able to recruit more high school students to serve as election judges. This will allow older adults—who frequently donate their time to serve as judges, but may be more vulnerable to COVID-19—to stay home and protect their health on Election Day.

If you’ve voted in the last two years, you will receive a vote by mail application automatically.

Voting by mail is a safe, secure alternative to in-person voting. Any person who has voted in the 2018, 2019 or 2020 elections—as well as anyone who registered to vote after the 2020 primary election—will receive an application for a ballot in their mailbox in early August. Fill out the application and mail it back to receive a ballot prior to the election, which you can use to vote from the comfort of your own home.

If you don’t receive an application in the mail, you can apply online.

Those who aren’t automatically sent an application can request a mail ballot on the State Board of Elections’ website. Applications are now open.

If you want to vote in person, the process will be safer.

To allow more Illinoisans to avoid waiting in long lines on Election Day, hours will be extended at all permanent early voting sites: The polls will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends and holidays. Election authorities are also permitted to establish curbside voting procedures for both early voting and on Election Day to allow citizens to cast their votes while maintaining safe social distance.

CHICAGO – To better inform policymakers on the root causes of poverty and economic insecurity, Senate Majority Leader Kimberly A. Lightford (D-Maywood) was appointed to the Commission on Poverty Elimination and Economic Security.

“I believe we have come to the precipice of a moment that can make the changes necessary to put us on track to eliminate poverty across Illinois,” Lightford said. “That effort starts with getting to the root causes of poverty, a major one being systemic racism, and no longer being shy about the way we approach them.”

The commission will consist of four members of the General Assembly, a member of the judicial branch and 20 members of the public, including people who have experienced deep poverty and advocates for youth, veterans, mental health, education equity, those experiencing homelessness, those differently abled and others.

“I look forward to the important work we’ll be doing through this commission, and even more to engaging my colleagues in a conversation that can create generational change, eliminate poverty and economic disparities across our state,” Lightford said.

The commission is tasked with educating policymakers on the impact poverty has on other measures of economic stability and economic outcomes, including educational attainment, rates of incarceration, lifetime earnings, access to health care, health care outcomes, and access to housing. The Department of Human Services will provide support for the commission to complete its work to produce a strategic plan that addresses poverty and economic insecurity in Illinois by November 30, 2021.

BROADVIEW—Communities in the West Suburbs came together on Juneteenth to celebrate both the end of slavery and to continue the fight for justice, equality and police accountability.

Senate Majority Leader Kimberly A. Lightford (D-Maywood) was joined by West Suburban Mayors Katrina Thompson, Andre Harvey, Edwenna Perkins, Rory Hoskins and other elected officials on Friday for a Juneteenth Police Accountability Protest.

Lightford not only wanted to shine a light on Juneteenth, Freedom Day for slaves in America, but she also calls for police accountability after seeing Chicago police officers sleeping on the job in Congressman Bobby Rush’s office on the South Side of Chicago.

“I know Juneteenth is supposed to be a celebration, but we are in the midst of a movement, so we have to address excessive force and the many other injustices,” Lightford said. “It is so unfortunate that Juneteenth and the vast majority of Black history is not being taught in our classrooms. We have to, as a people, celebrate our people, because no one else is celebrating us, but us.”

Over the past few months, Walmart has been working with Federal, State and Local leaders to establish drive-thru COVID-19 testing in Walmart parking lots. Walmart opened an additional testing site on June 12 in the parking lot of the Walmart store located at 1300 Des Plaines Ave, Forest Park, IL 60130. This initiative will not require any additional local resources and will not impact traffic since it is by appointment only.

Walmart COVID-19 Testing Logistics

Site Logistics:

• Drive-thru Testing (appointment only): Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, for two hours each morning (7:00 am to 9:00 am); approximately 40 tests per day.
• Site layout: conex container to house tests, PPE, sanitary supplies and traffic cones for minimal queuing.
• The current plan is to have this site operating on Thursday June 11 (soft-launch) and open to the public on Friday, June 12.
• Registration Portal: www.doineedacovid19test.com

Testing Process:

• Self-administered swab observed by a trained pharmacist.
• Those who want to be tested will register online and receive an appointment time.
• There is no cost to the individual.
• Those tested receive a designated appointment time-frame; we have found the lines to be fairly short and orderly. Testing process takes approximately 5 minutes per car.
• A Walmart pharmacist will observe patients at our site performing a COVID-19 self-swab nasal test inside their vehicle.
• The specimens will be collected, sent to a lab for results and reported to the state health department by our lab partners.
• Lab partner on these sites would be eTrueNorth; they are one of the labs on contracted with the feds.
• Those being tested will be notified of their test results within 3 to 5 days and instructed how to proceed should they test positive.
• No lab results are actually run or provided at this time on site so we do not need CLIA certification is being sought.
• Here are some additional details of what Walmart is doing: https://corporate.walmart.com/covid19testing
• And here is an example from HHS of the self-administration of the test: https://youtu.be/vsQVxsQY3jc