Student Government Leaders Support Voting Reform Bill
The Illinois Legislature is close to passing a sweeping election reform bill that, among other positive reforms, would make Election Day Registration permanent, and provide early voting on all state University campuses. Illinois student leaders have rallied to suppor the bill.
The Illinois Legislature is close to passing a sweeping election reform bill that, among other positive reforms, would make Election Day Registration permanent, and provide early voting on all state University campuses. Illinois student leaders have rallied to suppor the bill.
We have been running non-partisan voter registration and get out the vote drives for 30 years. We ran our New Voters Project on many Illinois campuses this fall, often working closely with student govenrment leaders. When we asked them to sign on to support making Election Day Registration permanent, many were quick to sign on.
- Mitch Dickey – President, Illinois Student Senate, University of Illinois
- Flavio Bravo & Michael Fasullo – President and Vice President, Student Government, Loyola University
- Gedeon Dansou – Vice President, Student Government Association, Harold Washington College
- Akinade Aderele – Student Body President, Illinois Institute of Technology
- Nasir Almasri – Student Body President, Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville
- Reginald Thedford – Student Body President, Eastern Illinois University
- Julia Watson – President, Northwestern Associated Student Government, Northwestern University
Voting is a habit, and getting young people engaged in voting at an early age is a down payment for a healthier democracy. Thanks in part to the to the advocacy of these student leaders, more young people will be voting for years to come.
Authors
Abe Scarr
State Director, Illinois PIRG; Energy and Utilities Program Director, PIRG
Abe Scarr is the director of Illinois PIRG and is the PIRG Energy and Utilities Program Director. He is a lead advocate in the Illinois Capitol and in the media for stronger consumer protections, utility accountability, and good government. In 2017, Abe led a coalition to pass legislation to implement automatic voter registration in Illinois, winning unanimous support in the Illinois General Assembly for the bill. He has co-authored multiple in-depth reports on Illinois utility policy and leads coalition campaigns to reform the Peoples Gas pipe replacement program. As PIRG's Energy and Utilities Program Director, Abe supports PIRG energy and utility campaigns across the country and leads the national Gas Stoves coalition. He also serves as a board member for the Consumer Federation of America. Abe lives in Chicago, where he enjoys biking, cooking and tending his garden.
