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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
RESOLUTION REQUESTING A HEARING OF THE COOK COUNTY CLERK'S OFFICE ON VOTING EQUITY
WHEREAS, the Cook County Clerk's Office is responsible for administering and reporting on all suburban Cook County elections; and
WHEREAS, this March the Cook County Clerk's Office translated ballots into Korean and Tagalog along with traditionally included languages of English, Spanish, Chinese and Hindi; and
WHEREAS, in November the Cook County Clerk's Office will be mandated to again increase the number of languages, to also include Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, Arabic, Urdu, and Gujarati; and
WHEREAS, the Cook County Clerk's Office generally releases post-election reports for gubernatorial and presidential elections; and
WHEREAS, the COVID-19 pandemic is placing a greater strain on voting both at polling locations and by mail; and
WHEREAS, recent elections, such as in Washington D.C. and Georgia, have shown how the pandemic can cause issues with mail-in ballot delivery, polling place operability, and extremely long waits; and
WHEREAS, pandemic-related voting challenges can be compounded by new voting machines; and
WHEREAS, pandemic-related voting challenges were found to disproportionately impact Black communities; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, the Cook County Board does hereby request a hearing with the Cook County Clerk's Office during the July Board week to learn how the language expansion mandated in the VOTE Ordinance proceeded in March, including on judge recruitment, computer-learning and human translations, translated printed and audio voting materials; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the hearing will allow Commissioners to learn what preparations are being made for November and how the Board of Commissioners may be able to assist; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the hearing will also provide the Cook County Clerk's Office the opportunity to expound on plans to ensure sufficient polling places will be able to open, troubleshoot any eq...
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