DuPage County board passes contentious new voting precinct map
By George Wiebe
The DuPage County Board, in a 11-5 vote, passed an ordinance approving the new 2023 DuPage County precinct map July 10.
“I did have constituents reach out to me asking me to not vote on the maps, and I hear them, I acknowledge that, but … we do have to approve the maps today and we have to be in compliance with the law,” county board member Sadia Covert said before Tuesday’s vote.
Last May, the DuPage County Board failed to adopt precinct maps in compliance with an election law signed by the governor in November 2021, instructing counties to reduce the size of their election precincts to about 1,200 voters each in response to the shift to early and voting by mail. In 2020, nearly a third of DuPage County voters cast ballots through the mail.
“I will be a no vote,” board member James Zay, R-Carol-Stream, said Tuesday. “I think the state law, which ultimately gives us 20 to 30 less polling places on Election Day … will disenfranchise some voters.”
Voting in DuPage County is unique. Last June the DuPage County Clerk’s Office extended its “vote anywhere” program indefinitely, allowing eligible voters to cast their ballot at any polling place in the county.
“I think the word disenfranchisement is perhaps not applicable here because you are now able to go anywhere which expands your voting opportunities” county board member Mary Ozog said.
