Progress Illinois

Several important deadlines for Illinois residents who wish to participate in the fall mid-term elections arrive this week. First, all late registrations must be completed by the end of the day tomorrow and early voting ends by the close of Thursday. If you want to request an absentee ballot, you've got to do so by October 28 by mail (and November 1 in person).

Early voting is expected to be an strategic turnout tool for Democratic candidates seeking their first or a new term in office, especially in the party's Chicago and Cook County strongholds. The numbers appear somewhat mixed, so far. As expected, early voting in Chicago is down versus 2008 -- when President Barack Obama's campaign pushed the totals higher -- but up over 2006, the last non-presidential year election, as of late last week. In Cook County, more early voters were out versus 2006 as well. On the other hand, there are 40,000 fewer registered black voters in Chicago than in 2006, and 48 out of the city's 50 wards saw a decrease in the number of registered voters.

So the push is on -- to get people to the polls for early voting or to participate on November 2. Today at noon, the SEIU State Council (which sponsors this website) will use mobile billboards, new media, and face-to-face contact to get young voters in Chicago's South Loop, home to thousands of university students, to pledge to cast a ballot this year, according to a press release. On Tuesday, Gov. Pat Quinn's gubernatorial campaign will hold a "Vote Illinois" rally in downtown Chicago, featuring the governor and Alexi Giannoulias, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate. Former President Bill Clinton is scheduled to headline the event. 

At Tuesday night's U.S. Senate debate, Republican nominee Mark Kirk told the crowd that it's "not the time" to pass the DREAM Act, a stance he took publicly in an interview a few weeks ago. Click through to watch the immigration portion of the debate put together by the Huffington Post.

Following the debate, however, the Daily Herald got Kirk to admit that the bill "needed more study." That seems to imply he wouldn't support it at any time, a position immigration reform advocates abhor. Next week, ** Illinois Immigrant Action will hold a "week of actions" in response to Kirk's disclosure. Spokesperson Catherine Salgado says the organization has put in 64 calls to the congressman's office asking to discuss the legislation, which would give upstanding undocumented children a pathway to citizenship should they complete two years of college or military service. The details of the events are still being worked out, but she hinted that some will be conducted outside of Kirk's campaign offices and will feature young people "who feel strongly about defending the country they feel is theirs."

The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights and its allies, meanwhile, are also ramping up their voter outreach. Earlier this year, the organization registered 10,533 new voters in the immigrant community through its One Nation, One Dream: Standing for Families campaign. They now have 12 fellows working solely on GOTV efforts and have trained dozens of volunteers to hit the streets in the coming weeks. Similarly, leaders of the Muslim community are hoping to mobilize 20,000 Muslim voters to turn out this cycle. "Immigrants want to show their numbers can make a difference [in tight races]," Salgado says.

The more that immigrant supporters make their voices heard, the less likely it is that the General Assembly takes up draconian immigration enforcement laws, as is favored by State Rep. Randy Ramey (R-Carol Stream). Yesterday, he told the Daily Herald he would introduce an "Arizona-type immigration law" after next month's election. (For more on the pitfalls of that approach, check out our post on the topic here.)

** UPDATE (10/25): This post has been updated for clarity.