I noted with interest the Nov. 2 letter from Cook County Clerk David Orr, promoting a voter verification plan his office will soon try to implement. Putting aside the concerns one might have about depending on the U.S. Postal Service to deliver the verification letters to the correct addresses, there is an important question one needs to ask about this program: Why has it taken Orr nearly nine years to address–with more than press releases–the problem of outdated registrations throughout suburban Cook County?
During Orr’s tenure in office, the Illinois Committee for Honest Government has noted with dismay the large number of names still listed on suburban voter registration sheets despite the fact that those voters had died or moved away.
There has not been a true door-to-door canvass in the suburbs since the 1980s. Orr’s reliance on this canvass-by-mail may do little to remove these outdated registrations, particularly in areas where postal personnel are as likely to leave these forms by the mailboxes as to return to the clerk’s office those that are undeliverable.
If Orr really wants to eliminate the potential ghost voters instead of just promoting himself, he and his office should rely on door-to-door canvassing, instead of hoping the U.S. Postal Service will do the work for him.
