The McLean County chapter of the League of Women Voters [LWV] has recognized a member for her efforts to educate people on the importance of voting.
Georgene Chissell was presented the Florence Fifer Bohrer Award, named after the first female state senator in Illinois and the founder of the LWV's McLean County chapter.
Chissell ran for Ward 2 on the Bloomington City Council in the 2019 election, losing to Donna Boelen. Chissell said she lost because of low voter turnout, and in the years since, she has worked to increase voter engagement.
“I felt very honored, very honored, because that's a big award,” said Chissell. “So I get the plaque, then they give a donation to an organization of my choice.”
Chissell also works as chair of a political action committee focused on increasing voter education and turnout for the Bloomington-Normal NAACP. This July, Chissell attended the organization's national convention in Las Vegas.
“It was so exciting, and I learned so much. I was so ready to come back and get started. And I did. I came back running, I'm telling you, I just haven't stopped,” said Chissell. “And I'm hoping after Tuesday night, I can get a rest, some rest, until January when we start over again for the April election for Bloomington-Normal.”
Chissell said she's seen encouraging levels of engagement from younger voters. Chissell has registered more than 200 people to vote in their first election this year. Chissell herself said she didn’t have exposure to politics until she turned 18.
“I never saw my dad go vote. We didn't talk about it in the household because in my era coming up, things were seen and not heard, and so if adults were talking in a room, I knew I had to leave the room,” said Chissell. “So I grew up not knowing a lot of things about a lot of things, and so college is when my eyes got opened.”
Chissell’s work also has helped to teach Illinoisans that it is still possible for someone to vote if they have been convicted of a crime.
“As long as you have done your time, or you're in the county and have not been sentenced, you can vote, and a lot of them don't know that,” said Chissell. “They say, ‘What do you mean?’ and there it is. They open the door for me, and I just start, you know, spilling information.”
