CAIR-Chicago Publishes Its Voter Education Guide for the 2006 Election

The CAIR-Chicago Governmental Relations Department has been working diligently over the summer on a major voter education project. Former Voter Education Project Intern George Tobin and current Policy Research Intern Erin Hartnett have taken the lead in heading one of the many electoral activities the department has undertaken this year.

The CAIR-Chicago Voter Education Guide 2006 highlights races throughout Illinois, from the hotly contested state gubernatorial race between Governor Blagojevich (D) and Judy Barr Topinka (R) to the vacant seat in the sixth congressional district with Tammy Duckworth (D) and Peter Roskam (R).

Voters need information on the candidates in their districts so that when they do go to the polls, they are able to make decisions based on the information they have. The voter education guide is geared toward providing constituents with information on all candidates running in state and congressional races, from voting records of incumbent candidates to answers to a CAIR-Chicago produced questionnaire that candidates were asked to answer. In addition, it includes contact information for all candidates and best practices for first time voters as well as voters who have mastered the process.

Along the voter education project, CAIR-Chicago has been actively working to register people to vote since July. The New Americans Democracy Project NADP), an electoral project geared toward increasing voter turnout at the polls in November 2006, through which CAIR-Chicago and the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) have been working together, has produced over 1,000 Muslim voters in the southwest suburbs.

Haady Taslim, full time organizing fellow for the NADP has been working with a group of volunteers to register eligible Muslim citizens to vote in the upcoming election. With over 1,000 people registered and the deadline to register to vote on October 9, the campaign has shifted gears. A comprehensive Get Out the Vote campaign is in the works with door knocking, phone banking, poll watching and organized mobilization to the polls.

Copies of the CAIR-Chicago Voter Education Guide 2006 will be made available a few weeks before the elections. For more information on the Voter Education Project, political mobilization activities, or elections in general, please contact Governmental Relations Coordinator Sadiya Ahmed at gov.relations@cairchicago.org

*CAIR-Chicago does not endorse campaigns or candidates*