There is a voting-rights case pending in Circuit Court that may have a significant impact on November’s general election.
Last year, legislators in Springfield voted to abolish a person’s right to vote a straight party ballot with a single punch. This legislation, which Gov. Jim Edgar signed into law, was passed without public hearings and without any input from those of us responsible for conducting elections.
The straight-ticket voting option has been a right of Illinois citizens for more than 100 years. In the 1996 election more than 1.7 million people, nearly 40 percent of those who voted, used the straight-ticket option.
It should be pointed out that many voters who chose this option can, and do, elect to vote for a particular candidate, or candidates, from a different party as they go through the ballot. This is not just “mindless voting,” as critics have charged.
The move to do away with the option was purely political, designed to punish Cook County Democrats for their successes in the 1996 election. But the partisan political action does a serious disservice to voters, especially in Cook County. That is why I, and the Illinois State Council of Senior Citizens’ Organizations, have filed suit to have this law overturned.
Cook County has the longest and most complicated ballots in the state. We estimate that in the November election, voters will have to punch upward of 100 times to vote a full ballot. No other Illinois county has a ballot that will exceed 30 or 40 punches.
The result will likely be longer lines, and some citizens–such as the elderly, disabled and others who need more time to complete the ballot–may not vote a full ballot, or worse, not vote at all. Voting will be less accessible, more difficult and more time consuming.
I believe government should do everything possible to encourage voter participation, not put up barriers to the process. That’s why we fought the governor when he tried to nullify the federal Motor Voter law, and that’s why we are fighting him on this voting-rights issue as well.
This was a shortsighted mistake by the legislature and the governor and one that I believe the court will overturn.
