Elections and Voting

A service of the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference and its website, www.hydepark.org
Help support our work: Join the Conference!

Watch here for news of upcoming elections. You can serve as deputy canvassers/registrars or as judges of election. Contact Board of Elections, (312) 269-7851 FAX 312 269-0664. Training opportunities for volunteer deputy registrars will open again. Call 312 269-7851. See below: County Clerk David Orr's and commissioner's appeals for election judges and call for reform. See Early Voting,appeal for temps. Procedure of voting.

The League of Women Voters is and organization that works for electoral integrity and an informed citizenry. Local contact: Doorthy Scheff, 5550 South Shore Drive, Chicago, Illinois, 60637, 773 753-4647.
Downtown: 332 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60604 (312) 939-5935-President there Esta Kallen, tkandek@aol.com.
www.lwv.org (search by state), www.lwvil.org (state org)
Purpose: To promote citizen participation and integrity in the electoral and civic processes and good government, elucidate public issues. Holds monthly meetings and forums at Montgomery Place. Has held candidate forums.

Notable winners in the Feb. 5 2008 primary: Alvarez (D) and Perieca (sp.) (R) for States Attorney, Obama (D) and McCain (R) in the Presidential. Illinois House:
Currie (D) by 83%, no (R); 26th Will Burns (D) (33% in a 5-person race), Silvester "Junebug" Hendricks (R).

Find your polling place www. voterinfonet.com or www.chicagoelections.org
Registration to vote for the April election is open, that for the February 27 primary is closed.

There are many evaluators of judicial candidates, of which just one is the Chicago Bar Association- www.voteforjudges.org. sponsored by the Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice. it gives the evaluations of ALL bar associations and area newspapers and is downloadable. See also www.retentionjudges.com....

The replacement for the punchcard system--paper mark and touchpad--had plenty of problems of their own in the March 2006 primary. Problems from lack of training for many judges were compounded by balky new equipment. (Some are asking about the bidding process, and the company placed the blame on training when it's only been paid a third of its enormously pricey contract. Hmm). 15% of the city's precincts had counting delays, and many ballots had to be handcounted downtown resulting in very late results.Things have gradually smoothed out since then.

In the general in November 2006, many people had problems, some with the paper ballot, others with the touch screen. And reporting was slow due to computer jam ups.

A review by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission and National Institute of Standards and Technology, according to the Tribune of December 1, 2006, says electronic voting machines "cannot be made secure." They must allow recounting of ballots independent from the machine's software. Optical scan systems are superior: the voter marks, it's read, and a print summary is given to the voter for review and saved for a recount. The findings are to be debated by the Technical Guidelines Development Committee.

County elections chief David Orr appointed Hyde Parker and honored citizen Abner Mikva to head a small committee of information-tech academics to look into the problems esp. of the slow reporting and to report ahead of preps for the February election.

The Mikva panel says it has found and solved the problems, apparently with connection of the transmitter and receiver. The cost for conversion to a wired system is $10 million. The fixes apparently worked, as there were no problems in the February primardy.

Open and honest elections are very important to Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference. Recently, we felt much was left to be desired in the process for selection (and non-election for nearly 2 years) of a state senator to fill a vacancy. We also deplore lack of deference to formal community process of choice and input and lack of open, or at least observed, meetings in many decisions that affect the community.
Meanwhile, we encourage you to volunteer for judge or poll watcher at elections. Lets have a full contingent of judges and watchful eyes at every precinct in the area. And, make sure you are registered to vote--especially if you have moved. If you have doubt (i.e., didn't get a confirmation card), bring two forms of id with you, one showing current address. Top

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To vote in Illinois you must:

Federal law requires first-time voters who register by mail to show proof of identification in order to vote. You may be able to satisfy this requirement by providing your driver's license number or, if you do not have a driver's license the last 4 digits of your social security number.

Other acceptable forms of identification are a copy of a current and valid photo ID or a copy pf a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document that shows your name and address.

If you register by mail, you must vote in person the first time you vote. If you register at a public service agency, any information regarding the agency which assisted you will remain confidential as will any decision not to register.

If you change your name, you must re-register.

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New procedures for the elections and (barring major snafus) thereafter

There will be two ways to vote. Optical scan ballots and electronic touch screen.

Optical scan voting. Printed ballot contains the names of al candidates and offices. Complete the arrow (with straight, direct lines) beside the name selected. (If voting absentee, be sure to use blue or black ink.) There is a special write-in section for each office- write the name then complete the arrow. Be careful not to overvote. The ballot is two-sided. To change your vote you must ask for a new ballot.
After voting, take your ballot to a ballot scanner and insert, in the privacy sleeve , into the marked slot. If rejected, you will be informed why and given opportunist to re vote or you may have it processed "as is."

Electronic touchscreen. Intended largely for the disabled. Receive a voter card and insert it into the yellow slot at bottom right--push until you feel it click. Operates like ATM with menus, etc. This method prevents overvotes. You can scroll around and self-correct. You can verify your vote with a printed tape. When done, touch "cast ballot"- once this is done you cannot change your vote.

Election Central is 312 260-7870.

Illinois law now allows the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners to conduct Early Voting the 22nd through 5th day preceding an election.

Early voting: 51 locations including Downtown 69 W. Washington, (4th Ward) King Community Center, 4314 S. Cottage Grove, and (5th Ward) Jackson Park Fieldhouse, 6401 S. Stony Island Mon-Fri 9-5, Sat including King Holiday. You must produce a government-issued photo ID, state ID card or passport. February 5 through 22. No reason needed. 312 269-7900, tty 312 269-0027.

To staff the sites, CEB hires temporary employees. The position pays $12 an hour requiring daily, weekend and holiday work during the 18-day period--18 consecutive days 8:30 am to 5:30 pm (to 12:30 pm weekends and holidays). Qualifications:

Employees must attend a training session ahead of elections. For which they will be compensated. They also must attend an on-site setup and review of the equipment, supplies, and procedures on the Sunday before the election. Employees will be trained to use a laptop computer to confirm registrations, operate a card activator device for touchscreen voting units, and assist with crowd management.

Procedures reviewed:

Two options: Optical scan uses a paper ballot. Touchscreen is electronic and creates a paper record secured in the printer.

OPTICAL:

1. The jusge suplies a special pen and a paper ballot.
2. Both sides of the ballot list offices and candidates. Connect the arrow to the right of t he name. If you make a mistake, you must ask for a new ballot.
3. After voting, cover the ballot withte privacy sleeve and insert in the ballot scanner.

TOUCHSCREEN:

Designed for voters with disabilities, but anyone may use.

1. The juge supplies a voter card, which you push into the yellow slot until it clicks
2. Select language
3. View printed record of choices in th machine. When done, touch "cast ballot" and returnt he voter card to the judge.

Contact: CEB Human Resources Department, 69 W. Washington Suite 800. 773 269-7950.

Volunteer deputy registrar training. 312 269-7851, FAX 312 269-0664.

Training requests must be submitted, in writing, on an organization's letterhead, by the organization coordinator, with phone number. The Community Services Division of the Board must receive these requests by the indicated deadline. Send to attn. of Kelly Bateman, Director, Community Services Division. The request must include name and address of each volunteer and indicate the class date and time requested. Attendees must reside in Chicago. Sessions may be cancelled. Training is at 33 N. LaSalle 2nd floor. Top

The Chicago Board of Election Commissioners, 69 W. Washington. (312) 269-7900.

County Clerk Orr: "Need Felt for Election Judges"

If we can put a man on the moon, why can't we get elections right?

As Cook County's chief election authority, I hear that a lot. In reality, neither rocket scientists nor my staff runs the show on Election day. The most powerful people on Election Day are the election judges--your neighbors who wake up at 4 a.m. and spend a 14-hour day inside a school gymnasium to ensure that your polling place runs smoothly.

In helping to guarantee democracy, polling place workers shouldn't have to take a vacation day or worry about jeopardizing their jobs. Instead, businesses should allow employees to take the day off to serve as election judges--just as they do for employees who sit on juries.

Since the 2000 presidential election, most of the debate surrounding election reform has focused on voting equipment, while the human component of improving elections has largely been ignored. Sure, machines count votes and transmit results, but election judges must set up the equipment correctly, show voters how the machines work and know what to do if they malfunction.

Unfortunately, election authorities nationwide face shortages of election judges at a time when we need them most. The introduction of new federal voting procedures coupled with an expected heavy voter turnout makes it essential that every precinct have a full complement of five election judges for the November 2 election. That's more than 25,000 election judges in Cook County alone.

Last spring, my office drafted a bill that would have required businesses to give time off to employees who work as election judges. It ultimately died after winning approval in the Illinois House. But civic-minded companies in Illinois can still support the spirit of the law on their own.

Deforest B. Soaries, Jr., chairman of the federal Election Assistance Commission, has called the decrease in polling place workers "an emerging crisis" that eclipses any technical issues. The commission is now urging corporate leaders nationwide to recruit more election judges by awarding employees the day off to work at the polls.

Granted, working as an election judge is hardly glamorous stuff. You work long hours and don't get rich doing it. But election judges play a critical role by serving on the front lines and making sure elections are conducted fairly, honestly and accurately.

The more knowledgeable, well-trained judges we have on hand, the better. Granting them time off to protect voter rights, reduce polling place confusion and minimize ballot errors only makes sense.

 

Election judge vacancies a familiar problem. by Theresa M. Petrone, Bd of El. Commrs. [Note, a firm rebuttal by a retired teacher to the part about using teachers appeared in the September 29 Hyde Park Herald.]

Hyde Park Herald, September 15, 2004

The current system of recruiting and assigning judges is no longer effective and needs to be replaced with a procedure that will ensure all voters are served by trained and reliable poll workers.

Judges of election are currently appointed by the two major political parties. In the City of Chicago, approximately 14,000 judges, evenly divided between Democrat an Republican, are needed to staff the city's 2,709 polling places.

Unfortunately, in recent years, this task has become more difficult, leaving the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners scrambling to fill thousands of vacancies during the 45-day period prior to the election when the Board can make direct appointments in precincts where the political parties made no assignments.

With only a few months until the Nov. 2 Presidential Election, the Board finds itself with more than 10,000 judges of election vacancies. A crisis? Yes, but one that the Board faces every two years when the term of all judges of election expires.

Past experience has demonstrated that the key to a well-run election is to have trained and conscientious judges of election assigned to all precincts. Although there are hundreds of dedicated judges of election who serve every election, some for decades, there are many precincts where it is difficult to recruit anyone to serve. This problem is compounded by the large number of judges of election who fail to show up election morning, leaving some precincts with one or two judges, or even none!

Serving as a judge of election requires training. Judges must know ho to set up the polling place in the morning; process and assist voters during the polling hours; be able to close the polls and tally the vote; and be knowledgeable of a complex State Election code and federal requirements. The Chicago Board of Election Commissioners does its part in providing a professional school of instruction, a comprehensive judge of election manual, and unlimited backup services through Election central. Yet, even with all of this assistance, serving as a judge can be a challenging and intimidating task. In precincts with untrained judges of election, mistakes are easy to make, sometimes disenfranchising voters.

What is the solution to the judge of election vacancy crisis? Her is a suggestion that would solve the judge of election dilemma and provide voters with the best possible electoral system:

A professional cadre of Chicago school teachers who would staff the city's polling places every election....

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