{"id":75766,"date":"2019-01-29T13:52:39","date_gmt":"2019-01-29T19:52:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=75766"},"modified":"2019-02-05T15:28:32","modified_gmt":"2019-02-05T21:28:32","slug":"chicago-mayoral-candidates-demand-voter-access-and-equity-for-upcoming-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/chicago-mayoral-candidates-demand-voter-access-and-equity-for-upcoming-election\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago mayoral candidates demand voter access and equity for upcoming election"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Ariana Puzzo<\/strong>
\nMedill Reports<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIf we\u2019re going to get the confidence of the people of Chicago, what we have to do is do everything legitimate,\u201d said the former Chicago police superintendent and mayoral candidate Garry McCarthy.<\/p>\n

The opposite is done in Chicago to promote voter turnout in some areas, McCarthy said at Monday\u2019s mayoral forum. He said the city\u2019s February election is demonstrative of the issue of legitimacy, citing low voter turnout and how it is an effort to \u201cswing the election.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe voters don\u2019t have the rights that they need because of the way that the system is designed,\u201d McCarthy said. \u201cSo, this goes way past just what happens inside with those machines and to the entire system at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seven of the 14 mayoral candidates at the forum spoke about voting access at the forum at Northwestern University School of Law. The forum focused on other topics including education equity in Chicago Public Schools and police accountability. Chicago Lawyers\u2019 Committee for Civil Rights co-hosted the event with the National Lawyers Guild at Northwestern.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Moderator Alden Loury, the Senior Editor for WBEZ\u2019s desk on race, class and communities, asked several candidates how they will guarantee voting rights for disenfranchised citizens.<\/p>\n

Paul Vallas, the former CEO of Chicago Public Schools, and attorney Lori Lightfoot agreed with McCarthy that the February election generates low voter turnout. Vallas said the city must be \u201caggressive\u201d in registering voters, including CPS high school graduates.<\/p>\n

Lightfoot said efforts must be made to determine which citizens do not have access to the ballots and find alternatives without requiring them to physically go to polling stations.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Elections] matter a lot, but it matters only if you show up and vote, you educate yourself ahead of time, and you speak your values,\u201d Lightfoot said.<\/p>\n

\"Audience\"
City residents are thanked by mayoral candidates for attending despite snow and record-dropping temperatures. (Ariana Puzzo\/Medill)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Candidates addressed how they will reform police union contracts that include provisions enabling unnecessary restraints on investigations and the facilitation of false reports.<\/p>\n

Attorney John Kozlar said he wants to implement a 60\/40 plan. The plan would implement a policy that requires 60 percent of the police officers serving a district to reside within its limits. The plan, he said, would help officers be seen as community members rather than outsiders.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s too much tension between the police department and the communities \u2013 they\u2019re not listening to each other,\u201d Kozlar said. \u201cYou\u2019re going to know the area better, you\u2019re going to know the streets, you\u2019re going to know the neighbors. So, that\u2019s when everybody can work together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amara Enyia, the director of the Austin Chamber of Commerce, said an issue she has worked on entails tracking police officer records \u201cbeyond the five-year provision\u201d before they enter the force.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to know the track records of the police officers \u2026 and if they have had an extensive disciplinary history because that can also inform how they conduct themselves when they are on the job,\u201d Enyia said.<\/p>\n

The closing topic was education equity as it relates to last month\u2019s attempted closing of the National Teachers Academy, a Level 1+, South Side elementary school. The candidates answered how they plan to change the \u201cengagement process\u201d in CPS so students, families and educators can be substantially involved in policy decisions that affect students of color and those with disabilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you look at the statistics, you know what the quality of education is by zip code,\u201d Lightfoot said. \u201cIn Chicago, zip code is a proxy for race.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lightfoot said parents and teachers cannot be treated as \u201cunwanted guests\u201d any longer and there needs to be opportunities for parents to be engaged in the quality of their children\u2019s educations. Lightfoot said that is her reasoning for supporting a fully-elected school board. Lightfoot added that the first thing that needs to be done as mayor is \u201chealing the damage that has been done,\u201d which includes seeking an apology from Janice Jackson, the chief executive officer for CPS, to NTA.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe needs to apologize to other communities that have been harmed by the practices of CPS,\u201d Lightfoot said. \u201cWhether it\u2019s the closure of schools, whether it\u2019s the sex abuse scandal where they sat on their hands for almost six months and did nothing to protect our children; there\u2019s a lot of work that has to be done.\u201d<\/p>\n

There also needs to be tools employed to consider racial and equity impacts when making changes in educational polices, Lightfoot added.<\/p>\n

The candidates and those hosting the forum stressed the need for a leadership change on Feb. 26.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s obviously easier to criticize when you don\u2019t have a policy-making position and it\u2019s much easier to be critical from the outside, but we really have lack of strong leadership right now,\u201d said Timna Axel, the communications director at Chicago Lawyers\u2019 Committee for Civil Rights.<\/p>\n

Kozlar said Chicagoans often elect the same people, which brings no changes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith all of this political experience that some of these individuals have, why are we still talking about the same problems?\u201d Kozlar said.<\/p>\n

Photo at top: Mayoral candidate Garry McCarthy (R to L) stresses the need to gain the confidence of the people of Chicago by ensuring their voter rights. \u201cIn Chicago, zip code is a proxy for race,\u201d said attorney and candidate Lori Lightfoot regarding education equity. Attorney John Kozlar proposed a 60\/40 plan for 60 percent of police serving a Chicago neighborhood would live in it. (Ariana Puzzo\/Medill)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Ariana Puzzo Medill Reports \u201cIf we\u2019re going to get the confidence of the people of Chicago, what we have to do is do everything legitimate,\u201d said the former Chicago police superintendent and mayoral candidate Garry McCarthy. The opposite is done in Chicago to promote voter turnout in some areas, McCarthy said at Monday\u2019s mayoral […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":533,"featured_media":75768,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,2952,2951,675,4559],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-interest","category-politics","category-politicsnational-security","category-social-justice","category-winter-2019"],"yoast_head":"\nChicago mayoral candidates demand voter access and equity for upcoming election - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/chicago-mayoral-candidates-demand-voter-access-and-equity-for-upcoming-election\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chicago mayoral candidates demand voter access and equity for upcoming election - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Ariana Puzzo Medill Reports \u201cIf we\u2019re going to get the confidence of the people of Chicago, what we have to do is do everything legitimate,\u201d said the former Chicago police superintendent and mayoral candidate Garry McCarthy. The opposite is done in Chicago to promote voter turnout in some areas, McCarthy said at Monday\u2019s mayoral […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/chicago-mayoral-candidates-demand-voter-access-and-equity-for-upcoming-election\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-01-29T19:52:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-02-05T21:28:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/02\/John-Lori-Garry.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1100\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"733\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"arianapuzzo2019\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"arianapuzzo2019\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/chicago-mayoral-candidates-demand-voter-access-and-equity-for-upcoming-election\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/chicago-mayoral-candidates-demand-voter-access-and-equity-for-upcoming-election\/\",\"name\":\"Chicago mayoral candidates demand voter access and equity for upcoming election - Medill Reports Chicago\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/chicago-mayoral-candidates-demand-voter-access-and-equity-for-upcoming-election\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/chicago-mayoral-candidates-demand-voter-access-and-equity-for-upcoming-election\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/02\/John-Lori-Garry.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-01-29T19:52:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-02-05T21:28:32+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/4557b08c22c3c507d96f900ac1beb3df\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/chicago-mayoral-candidates-demand-voter-access-and-equity-for-upcoming-election\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/chicago-mayoral-candidates-demand-voter-access-and-equity-for-upcoming-election\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/chicago-mayoral-candidates-demand-voter-access-and-equity-for-upcoming-election\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/02\/John-Lori-Garry.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/02\/John-Lori-Garry.jpg\",\"width\":1100,\"height\":733},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/chicago-mayoral-candidates-demand-voter-access-and-equity-for-upcoming-election\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Chicago mayoral candidates demand voter access and equity for upcoming election\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/\",\"name\":\"Medill Reports Chicago\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/4557b08c22c3c507d96f900ac1beb3df\",\"name\":\"arianapuzzo2019\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/41c79b39ba3f466f067b051345cb64f33195368424ac578d21ee8a2952a842f5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/41c79b39ba3f466f067b051345cb64f33195368424ac578d21ee8a2952a842f5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"arianapuzzo2019\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/author\/arianapuzzo2019\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Chicago mayoral candidates demand voter access and equity for upcoming election - Medill Reports Chicago","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/chicago-mayoral-candidates-demand-voter-access-and-equity-for-upcoming-election\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Chicago mayoral candidates demand voter access and equity for upcoming election - Medill Reports Chicago","og_description":"By Ariana Puzzo Medill Reports \u201cIf we\u2019re going to get the confidence of the people of Chicago, what we have to do is do everything legitimate,\u201d said the former Chicago police superintendent and mayoral candidate Garry McCarthy. The opposite is done in Chicago to promote voter turnout in some areas, McCarthy said at Monday\u2019s mayoral […]","og_url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/chicago-mayoral-candidates-demand-voter-access-and-equity-for-upcoming-election\/","og_site_name":"Medill Reports Chicago","article_published_time":"2019-01-29T19:52:39+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-02-05T21:28:32+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1100,"height":733,"url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/02\/John-Lori-Garry.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"arianapuzzo2019","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"arianapuzzo2019","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/chicago-mayoral-candidates-demand-voter-access-and-equity-for-upcoming-election\/","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/chicago-mayoral-candidates-demand-voter-access-and-equity-for-upcoming-election\/","name":"Chicago mayoral candidates demand voter access and equity for upcoming election - Medill Reports Chicago","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/chicago-mayoral-candidates-demand-voter-access-and-equity-for-upcoming-election\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/chicago-mayoral-candidates-demand-voter-access-and-equity-for-upcoming-election\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/02\/John-Lori-Garry.jpg","datePublished":"2019-01-29T19:52:39+00:00","dateModified":"2019-02-05T21:28:32+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/4557b08c22c3c507d96f900ac1beb3df"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/chicago-mayoral-candidates-demand-voter-access-and-equity-for-upcoming-election\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/chicago-mayoral-candidates-demand-voter-access-and-equity-for-upcoming-election\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/chicago-mayoral-candidates-demand-voter-access-and-equity-for-upcoming-election\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/02\/John-Lori-Garry.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/02\/John-Lori-Garry.jpg","width":1100,"height":733},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/chicago-mayoral-candidates-demand-voter-access-and-equity-for-upcoming-election\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Chicago mayoral candidates demand voter access and equity for upcoming election"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/","name":"Medill Reports Chicago","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/4557b08c22c3c507d96f900ac1beb3df","name":"arianapuzzo2019","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/41c79b39ba3f466f067b051345cb64f33195368424ac578d21ee8a2952a842f5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/41c79b39ba3f466f067b051345cb64f33195368424ac578d21ee8a2952a842f5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"arianapuzzo2019"},"url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/author\/arianapuzzo2019\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/533"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75766"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75766\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75768"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}