PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION
November 4, 2014
Contact: Tuyet Le
TLe@advancingjustice-chicago.org
773.271.0899 x201
ADVANCING JUSTICE CALLS ON CHICAGO
BOARD OF ELECTIONS TO KEEP POLLS OPEN
CHICAGO – Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Chicago calls on the Chicago Board of Elections to keep Election Day Registration sites open past the scheduled 7:00pm closing time.
For the first time in its history, Illinois is offering citizens the option both to register and vote on Election Day. However, would-be voters have encountered long lines and wait times in excess of two hours at the five sites in the City of Chicago offering Election Day Registration.
“There are already enough barriers to voting. Allowing registration on Election Day does not help if citizens have to wait over two hours to cast a ballot,” said Tuyet Le, Executive Director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Chicago. “The City must keep these sites open after 7:00pm to protect the right to vote for all Chicagoans, including those at Welles Park on the North Side, some of whom were parents who had to pick up their children, or students who had to go to class.”
“The people I’ve met who have chosen Election Day Registration are not procrastinators,” said Kathleen Yang-Clayton, Director of Policy and Programs at Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Chicago. “These are community members who have empowered themselves to fix registration problems.”
Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Chicago is calling on the City of Chicago Board of Elections to:
- Keep Election Day Registration sites open past 7:00pm on November 4.
- Continue Election Day Registration in future years.
- Expand the number of Election Day Registration sites across the City of Chicago.
The City of Chicago had five Election Day Registration sites open today, all of which will close at 7:00pm:
- Chicago Board of Elections, at 69 W. Washington St.
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center, at 4314 S. Cottage Grove
- Mount Greenwood Park, at 3721 W. 111th St.
- West Side Learning Center, at 4624 W. Madison
- Welles Park, at 2333 W. Sunnyside
AAAJ-Chicago 2014 Election Day Press Release
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Asian Americans Advancing Justice—Chicago is the leading pan-Asian, multi-issue organization in the Midwest dedicated to empowering the Asian American community through advocacy by utilizing education, research, and coalition-building. Established in 1992, Advancing Justice—Chicago (formerly the Asian American Institute) was founded by a group of visionary Chicago community activists, academicians, and business leaders in response to the growing need to build a pan-Asian policy agenda among Chicago’s diverse Asian American communities. Advancing Justice-Chicago projects a united voice on the most pressing issues of concern to Asian Americans in metropolitan Chicago.
Advancing Justice—Chicago is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. It is a member of the Asian Americans Advancing Justice national affiliation, with partner affiliates in Washington D.C., Los Angeles, and San Francisco.