Mayor Brandon Johnson has called off – for now – a bid to impose new polling place protections in Chicago in an attempt to prohibit federal immigration agents from entering so-called "democracy zones" while voters are at the polls.
Johnson had scheduled a special City Council meeting for Wednesday afternoon to vote on a resolution honoring the life of the late Rev. Jesse Jackson, a longtime champion of voting rights who died last month at the age of 84, and to pass the so-called "Reverend Jesse L. Jackson Sr. Fair Access to Democracy Ordinance."
But on Tuesday night, the mayor’s office sent City Council members a memo postponing the special meeting indefinitely and without explanation.
"We look forward to continuing to work with council to honor Reverend Jesse Jackson Sr’s legacy," the letter stated.
While the mayor’s office did not explain the reason for cancelling the meeting, the move could be a signal Johnson lacked the votes to pass the ordinance, at least on the expedited schedule he was seeking. Because the ordinance has yet to be formally introduced to the City Council, the mayor would have needed a two-thirds majority – or 34 votes – to suspend the rules to even consider the proposal on Wednesday.
The ordinance would create so-called "democracy zones" outside polling places that would extend 100 feet outside existing campaign-free zones around Chicago polling places, where people are prohibited from soliciting votes. Civil immigration enforcement operations would be prohibited within those "democracy zones," an attempt to bar federal immigration agents from descending on polling places while voters are at the polls.
The measure also aims to protect election judges and other government workers from doxing by establishing new penalties for intentionally publishing sensitive personal information without their consent "with the intent to cause harm," or knowing that it could be used to harass, intimidate, or threaten injury to that person.
The proposal also would require landlords to provide secure mailboxes for every apartment in their buildings. A summary of the ordinance sent to City Council members explained that particular measure is necessary to ensure secure ballot access, stating, "When tenants lack secure mail, ballots can be lost or stolen, voters may miss deadlines, participation declines, and trust in elections erodes."
Violations of the new restrictions could result in fines of $500 to $5,000 per day. Any government employee whose "personal identifying information is disclosed or who is subjected to harassment or intimidation" in violation of the ordinance also would be entitled to file lawsuits for damages.
In a memo the mayor’s office sent to alders, Johnson argued the ordinance is necessary due to "unprecedented threats around elections," including harassment and threats against election officials, threats from the Trump administration to "nationalize elections and deploy armed forces near polling places," and "concerns about vote by mail ballot security and delivery reliability."
Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon has called on President Trump to deploy ICE agents to voting sites during the midterm elections. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has said she hasn’t heard the president discuss any plans to place ICE agents outside of polling locations, and a Department of Homeland Security official last month told state election administrators that immigration agents will not be stationed at the polls during the midterm elections.
However, President Trump has suggested that Republicans should "nationalize" voting, and repeatedly has accused Democrats of allowing undocumented immigrants in their states to vote in order to bolster their support, and claimed repeatedly, without evidence, that the 2020 election was rife with fraud.
"The President has made it very clear that he wants to suppress the vote of working people, and that even more dramatic, that he’s very clear about targeting Black and Brown folks," Johnson said at an unrelated event on Tuesday. "Of course, I have to look at different measures that we can take locally."
Johnson’s office had been seeking to have the new protections under the ordinance in place by the March 17 primary elections in Illinois, but by postponing the special meeting he had scheduled for Wednesday, it’s unlikely the City Council will vote on the measure until after the primary. It’s possible Johnson could still try to pass the ordinance ahead of the November general election.
As for plans for the City Council to consider a resolution honoring Rev. Jackson’s life and legacy, the mayor could potentially call that to a vote at the next regular meeting on March 18.
Region: Chicago,Politics,City: Chicago
via Politics – CBS Chicago https://ift.tt/oPakj9A
March 11, 2026 at 10:32AM
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