Illinois lawmakers are looking at creating a law that would require all eligible residents to cast a ballot.
The house ethics and elections committee held a subject matter hearing last week about House Bill 2718 which is called the "Facilitate Voting for All" Act.
The bill says all eligible citizens shall cast a ballot in every general election. However the bill says there are no fines or penalties if a person does not vote.
According to the bill there are 8 million residents registered to vote out of the roughly 10 million eligible voters. And of that number, only 5.7 million people cast ballots in the 2024.
Republicans on the committee say the state cannot force people to vote. Representative Patrick Windhorst from Metropolis is the Republican spokesperson on the committee. He says he wants citizens to vote.
Windhorst went on to say part of our electoral process and part of being a free people is the right not to engage.
According to the bill's sponsor Rockford Democrat Maurice West more than 24 countries, including Australia and Mexico, treat voting as a civic duty similar to jury duty.
Pamona Representative Paul Jacobs says Illinois does not have the same resources as one of these countries.
No vote was taken at the hearing. The bill is not yet scheduled to be brought up during this month's veto session.
