Cook County Jail Voting Allowed: Do You Agree?

COOK COUNTY, IL — One of the newest state laws requires a temporary polling location to be added to the Cook County jail come election time and for other counties in Illinois to enact vote-by-mail options for incarcerated people who have not been convicted.

State Bill 2090, first introduced last March by State Sen. Omar Aquino and signed into law by Governor J. B. Pritzker in August, "provides that each election authority shall collaborate with the county jail within the jurisdiction of the election authority to facilitate voting by mail for voters eligible to vote in the county who are confined or detained in the county jail" and "provides that in a county with a population of 3,000,000 or more, the election authority in the county shall establish a temporary branch polling place in the county jail."

ALSO ON PATCH: Other New 2020 Illinois Laws In Crime, Corrections

In Illinois, detainees who are incarcerated but not yet convicted are allowed to vote but several law firms have stated that many of the people in these situations do not know they are. Those serving sentences in jail are not allowed to vote, however, but convicted felons who have served their time are.

"Many of the 20,000 people detained before their trials do not have access to vote – even though they are eligible," the ACLU states. "Of the almost 4 million people with a past felony conviction in the state, many do not know that they are eligible to vote."

We're looking for public opinion on this. Vote in this @BeverlyMTGPatch Twitter poll shown below.

Do you favor the new law requiring a polling place at the Cook County jail?
— Beverly-MtG Patch (@BeverlyMtGPatch) January 2, 2020