Your elected officials need to hear from you. Calls are best, followed by letters (if there’s time for a letter to be received), followed by contact forms on their websites, and finally emails. But no matter what, reach out to them. They don’t know you’re pro-choice unless you tell them, and they are acutely sensitive to what voters are thinking.
Elected officials often hold “town halls” where constituents can voice their opinions, or you can make appointments to meet with them or their staffers. And for state legislators, pro-choice organizations such as Planned Parenthood Illinois Action often schedule “lobby days” where we descend in large groups on Springfield. It’s fun!
Federal and State:
Here’s the “Find My Elected Officials” page at the Illinois State Board of Elections to look up your legislators. Browse down, type in your address, click “Find Address.” A dialog box will pop up showing that it found your address. Click “OK”, then “Confirm Address.” Then browse down to find your US congressperson, your Illinois state senator and state representative, your senators and statewide elected officials, with full contact information for all.
Here are the quick links at the website of the Illinois General Assembly for looking up any Illinois state senator or state representative, and their contact information.
McHenry County:
McHenry County is divided into nine county board districts, each with two county board members.
Your voter ID card will tell you which precinct and county board district you’re in. Or you can use the McHenry County Precinct Viewer. Click on the X in the little window that pops up at the top of the screen, then start typing in your street address, then click on the full address that pops up. A map will display showing your residence. Zoom out as needed to see your precinct and county board district.
Note that most precincts are entirely within a particular county board district, but there are some precincts where you’re in a different county board district depending on the particular place where you live.
Here is contact information for all members of the county board.
Meetings of the full county board, of individual committees, and of meetings of the “committee of the whole” (the “cow”, as they call it), are held at the county administration building at 667 Ware Road in Woodstock. Here’s the meeting calendar. Meetings of the full board are usually scheduled for 7:00 pm on the third Tuesday of the month.
The McHenry County Meeting Portal lets you (a) view the agendas and other documents for upcoing meetings, (b) watch meetings streamed live as they happen, and (c) watch records of previous meetings.
Meetings range from the mundane to the highly exciting, depending on the topics on the agenda. Your pro-choice members of the county board always appreciate your in-person support at the meetings.