In 2014, the Illinois General Assembly passed a law creating a system for Election Day voter registration in Illinois. The law is unlike any other state’s voter registration law because it does not make Election Day registration equally available in all counties. The statute requires Illinois counties with populations of 100,000 or more to offer Election Day voter registration at every precinct polling place, but it does not require counties with smaller populations to offer Election Day voter registration at polling places.

In other words, Illinois guarantees citizens in the 20 counties with a population of 100,000 or more the right to register and vote at their local precinct polling places on Election Day – but does not guarantee that right to citizens in the state’s 82 counties with a smaller population.

The Liberty Justice Center is challenging Illinois’ Election Day registration statute for violating the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because the state should not be allowed to give select citizens better opportunities to vote than it gives to others. If the state wants to have Election Day voter registration at polling places, it should do so statewide without playing favorites among the electorate.