ELEC CD-UNIVERSITY VOTE HOURS

104th Regular Session Introduced by Mike Halpin and 1 co-sponsor

Expands on-campus early voting and grace-period voting for public universities, boosting student access with longer campus hours and requiring university cooperation.

Added as Co-Sponsor Sen. Rachel Ventura

SB 1650 — ELEC CD — Public University Voting Hours (summary)

Status: Introduced (Feb 2025); currently under committee/assignments (Rule 3-9(a) / Re‑referred to Assignments)
Primary sponsors (per record): Rhoads; Michael W. Halpin
Companion: HB 5318 (listed as companion)

Summary
- SB 1650 amends the Election Code provision governing “public university voting” to expand the on‑campus early voting/grace period voting window and clarifies certain operational rules for campus polling sites.

Key provisions
- Early voting/grace period window on campus: Requires election authorities to conduct early voting, grace period registration, and grace period voting at designated student union locations beginning on the 6th day before a general primary or general election (previously beginning the 4th day before). Campus early voting hours on those days remain 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
- Election‑day hours: Confirms that campus voting on the day of a general primary or general election must be conducted from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
- Equipment/capacity rule: If an election authority’s voting equipment can accommodate ballots for the entire jurisdiction, the campus site must be available to any registered voter in the jurisdiction. If equipment cannot accommodate every ballot form, the authority may limit campus early voting to precincts containing or bordering the university.
- University cooperation: Each public university must make the student union (as defined in statute) available and cooperate in implementing campus voting.
- Definitions: The bill enumerates the public universities and identifies specific student‑union facilities (or their functional equivalents) as campus voting sites.

Who is affected
- Students and university communities: extended campus early voting increases access for students and campus employees.
- County and local election authorities: operationally responsible for providing longer campus early voting windows, managing equipment allocation, and coordinating with universities.
- General electorate: potentially greater access if campus sites serve the broader jurisdiction (subject to equipment capacity).

Procedural/timeline notes
- The measure was introduced in February 2025 and is in committee/assignments per the provided status. If enacted, it would amend Section 1‑12 of the Election Code (public university voting).
- The record contains multiple unrelated documents labeled “SB 1650” from other states and on other topics; this summary is limited to the Illinois Election Code / “public university voting” provisions included in the supplied materials.

Potential impacts
- Increases early voting access for students (two additional early‑voting days on campus).
- May require additional staffing, equipment, or logistical adjustments by election authorities; costs and specific fiscal impacts would depend on local implementation decisions.