Mayor Brandon Johnson pushes new polling place protections in honor of Rev. Jesse Jackson

Mayor Brandon wants to honor the late Rev. Jesse Jackson and vote on an ordinance aimed at providing "security measures for the protection of poll workers, the electorate, and election-related activities."

The "Reverend Jesse L. Jackson Sr. Fair Access to Democracy Ordinance" would prohibit federal immigration agents from entering so-called "democracy zones" outside polling places, require landlords to provide secure mailboxes for tenants, and protect election judges against doxing, according to a draft of the ordinance obtained by CBS News Chicago.

Jackson died last month at the age of 84. The civil rights leader was a longtime champion of voting rights.

The ordinance named after him would create so-called "democracy zones" that would extend 100 feet outside existing campaign-free zones around Chicago polling places, where people are prohibited from soliciting votes. Federal immigration agents would be prohibited from entering those "democracy zones" for civil enforcement operations.

The measure also aims to protect election judges and other government workers from doxing by establishing new penalties for intentionally publishing sensitive personal information without their consent "with the intent to cause harm," or knowing that it could be used to harass, intimidate, or threaten injury to that person.

The measure also would require landlords to provide secure mailboxes for every apartment in their buildings.

Violations of the new restrictions could result in fines of $500 to $5,000. Government employees whose "personal identifying information is disclosed or who is subjected to harassment or intimidation" in violation of the ordinance also would be entitled to file lawsuits for damages.

In a memo the mayor's office sent to alders, Johnson argues the ordinance is necessary due to "unprecedented threats around elections," including harassment and threats against election officials, threats from the Trump administration to "nationalize elections and deploy armed forces near polling places," and "concerns about vote by mail ballot security and delivery reliability."

Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon has called on President Trump to deploy ICE agents to voting sites during the midterm elections. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has said she hasn't heard the president discuss any plans to place ICE agents outside of polling locations, and a Department of Homeland Security official last month told state election administrators that immigration agents will not be stationed at the polls during the midterm elections.

However, President Trump has suggested that Republicans should "nationalize" voting, and repeatedly has accused Democrats of allowing undocumented immigrants in their states to vote in order to bolster their support, and claimed repeatedly, without evidence, that the 2020 election was rife with fraud. 

"The President has made it very clear that he wants to suppress the vote of working people, and that even more dramatic, that he's very clear about targeting Black and Brown folks," Johnson said at an unrelated event on Tuesday. "Of course, I have to look at different measures that we can take locally."

Johnson's office is seeking to have the new protections under the ordinance in place by the March 17 primary elections in Illinois. If the City Council approves the ordinance by a two-thirds majority on Wednesday, the ordinance would go into effect immediately, but if approved only by a simple majority, it would not go into effect until 10 days after passage, so after the primary elections. The requirement for landlords to provide mailboxes for all tenants would not take effect until Sept. 1, regardless of the vote margin on the ordinance.

Johnson shrugged off any concerns about imposing such new restrictions less than a week before the primary.

"It's always the right time to move an agenda to protect people. I'm going to work with City Council as I always have to ensure that we can move something that honors the sanctity of our democracy," he said.

Originally, Johnson scheduled a special City Council meeting for Wednesday about the ordinance, but that has since been canceled. A new date for the meeting has yet to be announced.