Election Changes Affect School Districts

Governor JB Pritzker recently signed Senate Bill 825, which makes changes to the state election laws. Some of these changes affect school district calendars and are outlined below. Now Public Act 102-0015, the law

• Establishes November 8, 2022 as an official state holiday for schools and public state offices.
• Requires schools to be made available to be polling places for the November 8, 2022 General Election.
• Changes the Primary Election Day from the third Tuesday in March 2022 to the fourth Tuesday in June (from March 15, 2022 to June 28, 2022). This will affect the dates for a school board to act on placing referenda on ballots.

The new law also directs the Illinois State Board of Education to prepare a one-page document explaining the process for registering to vote, to be distributed by school districts to high school age students.
 
The full text of Public Act 102-0015 is available through the General Assembly website.