Illinois Cannot Afford to Wait After Callais, State Lawmakers Must Pass the Illinois Voting Rights Act
By: Conner Kozisek and Rod Wilson
After last week’s failed state constitutional amendment on redistricting and the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Louisiana v. Callais that gutted key protections of the federal Voting Rights Act, Illinois lawmakers can no longer afford to treat voting rights protections as a future legislative goal or a hopeful policy debate. The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling last week made it painfully clear that the fight for voting rights is happening right now and Illinois lawmakers must take immediate action to protect our multiracial democracy by passing the Illinois Voting Rights Act of 2026 (SB3170).
For decades, Section 2 of the federal Voting Rights Act served as one of the nation’s most powerful safeguards against racial discrimination in voting, ensuring that Black voters and other communities of color had a say in our democracy and the opportunity to elect candidates of their choice. With this recent Supreme Court decision, millions of voters across the country are left vulnerable. Illinois has long prided itself on being a leader for civil rights – but when it comes to voting rights, Illinois is lagging far behind other states.
In recent years, Illinois has failed to take initiative while other states have fought back against the federal erosion of voting rights protections and have passed robust state voting rights acts, including in Colorado, Minnesota, Connecticut, Washington, California, Virginia, and New York. Many other states are moving forward comprehensive state-level voting rights act legislation, including New Jersey, Michigan, and most recently Maryland.
This is no longer an issue that can be kicked down the road. In light of Callais, there is now greater urgency than ever before for Illinois lawmakers to pass the Illinois Voting Rights Act and give voters the nation’s leading anti-discrimination tools and protections they need to combat discrimination in voting. The Illinois Voting Rights Act will ensure elections are fair and accessible to everyone, protect Illinois voters against further weakening of federal protections, create stronger protections against unfair districts that prevent Black and Latinx voters from electing candidates of their choice, and expand language access requirements for voters with limited English proficiency.
State Sen. Graciela Guzmán at a press conference for the Illinois Voting Rights Act in February 2026.
Chief Sponsor of the Illinois Voting Rights Act state Sen. Graciela Guzmán said in a statement, “My state-level Voting Rights Act legislation is designed to protect Illinois residents and support fair representation,” adding that lawmakers will reviewthe legislation “to determine next steps and identify a path forward that ensures every Illinoisan has a voice.”
The recently failed constitutional amendment addressing redistricting protections alone was not enough to meet this moment. Additionally, more than a decade ago, Illinois lawmakers enacted a statute called the Illinois Voting Rights Act of 2011, but this law does not include key elements from other state voting rights acts to protect Black, Latinx, and Asian American voters and voters whose first language is not English. The barriers to voting have increased in the last fifteen years as U.S. Supreme Court decisions, including Callais, have gutted federal voting protections. We need modern-day solutions and the Illinois Voting Rights Act of 2026 meets this moment.
Failing to act this session would leave Illinois communities exposed to racial discrimination and vote dilution.
Illinois lawmakers have the opportunity to rise to meet one of the greatest voting rights challenges in a generation and not allow federal backsliding to erase the voices of Black, Latinx, and Asian American voters from our democracy.
History shows that democracy does not protect itself - it requires urgency and bold action.
Civil rights advocates gave their lives in the fight to secure the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965, sacrificing everything to protect the fundamental right to vote. It is our collective responsibility today to carry this work forward.
With the clock ticking toward the midterm elections, lawmakers do not have the luxury of delay or political excuses. The solution is already before them – Illinois lawmakers must act now to pass the Illinois Voting Rights Act – because every day of inaction leaves our democracy at great risk.
Conner Kozisek is program counsel with the Midwest Voting Rights Program at Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization working to secure racial equity and economic opportunity for all since 1969.
Rod Wilson is executive director of the Lugenia Burns Hope Center. A nonprofit organization working to develop the civic engagement of residents in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood and other communities through education, leadership development, and community organizing.