SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WTVO) — People currently in Illinois jails have their voting rights taken away.

They can exercise their civic duty once they serve their sentence, but a bill that lawmakers are considering aims to change that.

Anyone behind bars or convicted of a felony would have their voting rights restored 14 days after their conviction under the proposal, which was approved by Governor JB Pritzker on Friday.

People who are currently on parole or probation can register to vote and cast a ballot, and people released from jail have to re-register before they can vote again. This bill, however, would also allow people released from jail and those out on a work release to vote.

Supporters of the bill said that people in jail should not have their right to vote taken away.

“I don’t think that when they’re convicted they signed up to lose all their rights, and if we want people to be full citizens when they come out of prison, they should be able to be involved in the political process while they’re incarcerated,” said James Kilgore, director of advocacy and outreach for FirstFollowers.

Jails would also have to provide inmates with applications to vote by mail, to register to vote and other elections materials. The proposal will go into effect June 1 if it passes.