Legislation that would modernize and streamline the voter registration process for residents of Oak Park, Austin, Addison and elsewhere in Illinois passed out of the state Senate Thursday with the support of Senator Don Harmon.

Harmon, an Oak Park Democrat, is an enthusiastic co-sponsor of Senate Bill 250, which would clear the way for the automatic registration of eligible voters in Illinois.

“This is another important step in expanding access to the polls and ensuring Illinois’ voter registration process continues to improve,” Harmon said.

“Automatic registration would enable government to save money by bringing efficiency to the process and eliminating duplicative paperwork that government has to process. It also would encourage more people to participate at the polls and make government more reflective of the people it serves.”

Harmon was a champion of recent efforts to bring online voter registration and same-day voter registration to Illinois.

Senate Bill 250 would enable eligible Illinois residents to automatically register to vote when they apply for, update or renew a driver’s license or state ID. Under current state law, residents who wish to register to vote while they renew their licenses at the DMV must fill out separate, duplicative paperwork.

In addition to expanding access to the polls and streamlining the registration process, automatic voter registration would allow Illinois to improve the accuracy of its voter rolls. Oregon and California enacted similar automatic voter registration laws.

The legislation passed in the Senate by a vote of 42-16.

Gov. Bruce Rauner on Thursday publicly expressed his support for simplifying Illinois’ voter registration process. Newspaper editorial boards have come out in support of the effort, as well, including the Chicago Sun-Times. Cook County Clerk David Orr is a champion of the effort, too.