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Rep. JoAnn Osmond, R-Antioch, said she had sponsored an earlier bill that would have closed the schools on Election Day, but it was defeated in committee. Rep. Roger Eddy, R- Hutsonville, a co-sponsor of HB 263, brought the legislation to her, Osmond said.

"We were both looking at the same concept of how not to have any child sex offender in the school area at all," Osmond said. "I feel this was a good way of doing it by not denying him or her the right to vote, but giving specific parameters where (the sex offender) should go to vote."

Rep. Careen Gordon, D-Coal City, who voted against the bill, questioned its constitutionality.

"It would be the only group of people that we would single out in this state to restrict where they are allowed to vote," Gordon said.

"The right to vote is a constitutional right," she added. "It's something we hold very, very dear, and when you decide to pick out a group, as horrible as they may be - and I am the first in line to vote for stronger laws on sex offenders as a former prosecutor - but we end up on a slippery slope."

Ed Yohnka, spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union, offered a similar sentiment.

"It's hard for me to believe that we have to undermine the right to vote in this instance without really taking into account that there might be other steps we could take," Yohnka said.

A similar bill passed the Illinois Senate on March 29 by a vote of 57-0.

Senate Bill 417 would ban everyone subject to the Sex Offenders Registration Act from voting in schools and libraries. The legislation also requires the Illinois State Police to provide each election authority a list of registered sex offenders within their jurisdiction, who would in turn give a list to each election judge.

Yohnka said the ACLU opposes both bills.

"It's curious as to why suddenly there's an issue with sex offenders, as opposed to really providing safety and security in the school," he said.

Gordon agreed.

"The reason why we keep them out is because of the offenses that they've committed," she said. "If they are going there to vote, it's a completely separate situation. Even a regular person can't randomly walk around a school on Election Day."

The State Board of Elections is neutral on the bill, said Cris Cray, director of legislation for the agency.

"This has been a really hot topic for the last three years," Cray said. "We've had a lot of legislation dealing with sex offenders and voting."

She said the board is still analyzing the bills.