WAG 22-12-00
Clients may register to vote at all FCRCs. Provide clients the opportunity to register to vote at all:
- new applications;
REDEs; and- changes of address reported by the client in person or by telephone.
The opportunity to register to vote is for all persons who:
- are U.S. citizens;
- apply for cash, medical or SNAP benefits;
- are age 18 or over
Do not:
- seek to influence a client's political preference or party registration;
- display any political preference or party allegiance;
- say or do anything to discourage a client from registering to vote;
- say or do anything that may lead a client to believe that a decision to register, or not to register, affects the availability of benefits.
Applying or declining to register to vote does not affect any future benefit amount.
FCRC Responsibilities
Assist the client in completing the Illinois Voter Registration Application form if they request your help. If the client wishes to complete the voter registration application in private, allow them to do so.
Submit the SBE R-19 to the Office Liaison when it is received. Do not hold it until the case is processed. The Office Liaison must forward the application to the correct local election official within 5 days of the date the SBE R-19 is received in the local office.
If an Illinois Voter Registration Application form SBE-19, is received by fax, return it and request an original, signed SBE R-19 be completed.
Persons applying for assistance, renewing or redetermining eligibility for assistance, or reporting a change of address are provided information regarding voter registration and an Illinois Voter Registration Application.
Illinois Voter Registration Application forms SBE-19 are to be available in lobby waiting rooms in all FCRCs.
DHS Helpline Procedures
If a customer contacts the DHS Helpline regarding voter registration, Helpline staff complete a Referral or Reported Changes form and submit to the appropriate FCRC. Upon receipt, FCRC staff issue the SBE R-19 Illinois Voter Registration Application to the customer (not the SBE-R-24 which is only used for interviews or changes of address that are face-to face) and transmit it to the appropriate Board of Elections.
Limited English Proficient Persons
Forms required to complete the voter registration process are available to staff on the DHS One Net in both English and Spanish versions. When there is no on-site interpreter, call the Office of Hispanic/Latino Affairs (Translator Bank) Chicago at (312) 793-3613. The Office of Hispanic/Latino Affairs maintains the language bank and accesses the bank to find an employee who interprets in the language needed. Voting terminology training through the U.S. Election Assistance Commission Language Accessibility Program is provided to DHS translators. This training provides a glossary of election terms in six languages: Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Tagalog, and Vietnamese.
If there are no Department interpreters available, the Office of Hispanic/Latino Affairs, Chicago,will use all available means to coordinate all efforts,with your assistance, to seek other sources for interpreters. Other sources may be ethnic or service organizations, community colleges, universities, or other qualified persons.
