Bill
SB 1576
Establishes a temporary Illinois I Voted Sticker Commission to run a public design contest, select 10 final stickers for the 2026 election, with open voting and outreach.
Status (selected)
- Introduced: February 4, 2025 (Sen. Doris Turner et al.)
- Senate Committee Amendment No. 1 filed: March 11, 2025 (Sen. Doris Turner)
- Latest procedural flag: Rule 3‑9(a) / Re‑referred to Assignments (June 2, 2025)
- Note: the bill text contains multi‑step deadlines through July 1, 2026 and a repeal date of January 1, 2027.
Purpose
- Creates a temporary, statewide “I Voted” Sticker Commission to run a public design contest and select ten sticker designs for use by election authorities in the State for the 2026 General Election. The goal is public engagement and producing a set of official sticker designs for election jurisdictions to use.
Key provisions
- Creation of the “I Voted” Sticker Commission (new Section 1‑26 to the Election Code).
- Commission duties include:
- Establishing goals/guiding principles for the contest.
- Creating an accessible public website for submissions, an online suggestion box (closing no later than Nov 1, 2025 per bill text), and a public survey/voting function.
- Selecting up to 50 candidate submissions by Jan 1, 2026 and providing a written report to the General Assembly by Feb 2, 2026 describing submissions and selection process.
- Conducting public voting and selecting the final 10 designs to be used by election authorities on or before July 1, 2026.
- Conducting outreach to design communities, schools, libraries and advocacy groups, and incorporating input from children and young people.
- Meetings of the Commission are subject to the Open Meetings Act.
- Commission to display the final 10 designs after selection.
Composition, leadership, and administration
- Members include statewide elected/agency officials and appointees:
- Originally the Secretary of State (or designee) was to serve as Chair.
- Senate Amendment No. 1 replaces that provision: the Executive Director of the State Board of Elections (or the Executive Director’s designee) shall serve as Chair.
- Appointments by Governor, legislative leaders (numbers of appointees specified in the bill), the State Superintendent of Education (or designee), and the Chair of the Illinois State Museum (or designee).
- Appointing authorities must make appointments promptly; the Chair must convene the first meeting no later than June 30, 2025.
- Members serve without compensation. The State Board of Elections will provide administrative and other support.
Timing, duration, and sunset
- Several statutory deadlines aimed at producing designs for the 2026 General Election (see Key provisions).
- The Section creating the Commission is repealed on January 1, 2027.
- The Act is effective upon becoming law.
Who is affected / potential impact
- Election authorities across the State will be authorized to use the selected sticker designs in the 2026 General Election.
- Designers, schools, community groups, and the public are invited to submit and vote on designs; the process is intended to increase civic engagement.
- Administrative costs are expected to be borne by existing State Board of Elections resources (the bill requires administrative support but does not specify appropriation amounts).
Legislative note
- Senate Amendment No. 1 (filed 3/11/2025) modifies chairmanship to the Executive Director of the State Board of Elections. The bill includes a number of procedural deadlines and outreach requirements; legislative history indicates committee referrals and re‑referral to Assignments as of June 2, 2025.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
Sign in to ask a question.
