In a sweeping response to the Florida voting debacle, House Speaker Michael Madigan pushed through an election reform bill Wednesday authorizing the state to pay for new voting machines in every Illinois precinct.
The Illinois Democratic Party chairman’s proposal would pay for election authorities to upgrade their voting machines if they want to use equipment that would allow voters to see whether they accidentally failed to vote or voted twice in a race.
Supporters said the measure would allow counties like Cook, DuPage and Lake and other election authorities to recoup money they have spent before recent elections to install modern technology that can detect problems.
“We have a checkered history on elections,” said Madigan, a Chicago Democrat. “So what happened to Florida happened to us in 1960. It certainly would be nice if we would lead the nation in something like this.”
Chicago and Cook County had an unusually high number–more than 120,000–ballots with no recorded vote for president in November. About 7 percent of the November ballots failed to register a vote for president in Chicago, compared with less than 4 percent in 1996.
Chicago and Cook County use identical balloting systems that have the ability to detect overvotes and undervotes, but state law prevents election authorities from using the feature. Cook County election officials have had to obtain court orders this year to use the error-detection capabilities.
The measure approved Wednesday not only provides financial help but also allows election officials to use the detection feature.
Across the nation, there have been 1,400 election reform bills introduced in the wake of the Florida election controversy that sent Republican George Bush and Democrat Al Gore into political overtime.
The only other state that has approved a major proposal so far is Georgia, which would require statewide equipment upgrades in a plan where the state and local governments would share the costs.
The Madigan proposal allows counties to choose either new punch-card or optical scan machines with error detectors. House Republicans have their own reform proposal, which would require every precinct to switch to an optical scanning system, costing about $57.5 million.
The Madigan plan could be that expensive if the state picked up the cost of overhauling every precinct in Illinois. But Madigan’s plan would not require all election officials to tap into the program or change their system.
Despite competing proposals, the Madigan measure passed 113-0. It now goes to the Senate, where it will run into opposition from some lawmakers wary of new machines that have in-precinct automatic tabulating equipment.
“I wouldn’t be for anything where they count the ballots in precincts,” said Senate President James “Pate” Philip (R-Wood Dale). “That’s how you steal elections.”
A spokesman for House Republican Leader Lee Daniels (R-Elmhurst) said there is general bipartisan agreement that a statewide update is needed for the system of counting ballots, and there’s a chance the Senate could be won over.
Cook County Clerk David Orr said the county and city could benefit because they have spent more than $20 million to upgrade equipment.
In other action, the House passed 114-0 a bill that would require telephone callers to identify themselves when calling on behalf of candidates during political campaigns. They would have to give their telephone numbers and say which candidate they are calling for or opposing in the campaign.
The House also approved a bill–63-49–to require insurance companies that pay for impotency drugs like Viagra for men to also pay for birth control for women.
Sponsoring Rep. Mary Flowers (D-Chicago) argued the measure is simple justice and maintained insurance companies would save money by not having to pay expenses relating to avoidable pregnancies.
“Impotence is not an illness. It’s a condition that men can live with,” Flowers said. “But some women can die as a result of being pregnant.”
The House also approved a bill that would allow a judge discretion to require drivers arrested for drunken driving to put ignition interlock devices on their cars as a condition of bail. The interlock would require a person to pass a breath test before starting the car.
