* Tribune…
About 70 percent of eligible Chicago voters skipped the March primary — but what if those who stayed away could have voted via an app on their smartphones?
That’s the bold vision of the future being pushed by former Illinois Deputy Gov. Bradley Tusk. He’s backing blockchain technology getting a trial run among members of the military eligible to vote in West Virginia’s May election; they’ll be able to cast their vote using Apple or Android devices.
Tusk — who both served under and gave testimony that helped convict former Gov. Rod Blagojevich — told Inc. that “hopefully, eventually everybody will be able to vote this way.”
By boosting turnout, smartphone voting could change the dynamic of primaries so that candidates no longer have to play to the highly partisan voters who are most likely to trek to a traditional polling place.
A staff member from Tusk Montgomery Philanthropies, which is helping fund the technology, has met with officials from Cook County Clerk David Orr’s office — which handles suburban elections — to pitch a trial locally, he said. But Orr spokesman Nick Shields said Orr has “no plans” to try out the technology.
* Dispatch-Argus…
The Better Government Association’s Andy Shaw recently shared a wish-list to help give Illinois voters the elections they deserve, not the ones they have been forced to take. Many items on the list are worth considering, including:
— Setting up a system to create truly independent maps not partisan ones that are drawn to keep the party in power in power.
— Holding elections on weekends, instead of a Tuesday, and moving primaries to a warmer month to increase turnout.
— Requiring more donor transparency.
— Creating a public financing system that would match modest donor contributions with pubic dollars to increase their impact on elections.
* WCIA…
State lawmakers are trying to make changes to voting before the 2019 election. They’ve introduced a bill to get rid of precincts and create voting centers. Right now, area voters have specific locations where they go to vote. It’s on the voter registration card. If a voting center bill became law, and if the county opted in, voters could pick one of about 20 centralized locations instead of going to assigned precincts.
* More…
Drew Penrose, law and policy director of the non-partisan group Fair Vote, said primaries where everyday voters participate in elections were meant to battle corrupt political parties selecting candidates and office holders without voter input.
Some states have closed primaries where voters register for a party before voting. Penrose said Illinoisans on primary day do things differently.
“It’s the only state that I’m aware of where you go, you declare a political party affiliation and then the person who is handing you a primary ballot has to announce in a voice loud enough for people to hear in the polling place which party affiliation you are affiliating yourself with,” Penrose said.
* Another one…
In the House, Rep. Ryan Spain, R-Peoria, has introduced a proposal to amend the Illinois Constitution. Spain would take redistricting away from self-interested lawmakers and give it to a bi-partisan commission of non-elected Dems, GOPers and Independents appointed by state Supreme Court justices.
In the other chamber, Sens. Julie Morrison, D-Deerfield, and Heather Steans, D-Chicago, have introduced the same proposal. (Both Spain and Morrison are former students of mine: Ryan at the U. of I. and Julie at Knox College.)
Democratic Speaker of the House Mike Madigan will fight these proposals tooth and nail. Above all else, Madigan craves political control. If a Democrat is elected governor in November, that party would control the redistricting process after the 2020 Census.
* And…
Fair Vote, a nonpartisan election reform group, advocates for a move to ranked-choice voting. Under the system, voters have the ability to rank as many candidates as they want in order of preference.
Geoffrey Cubbage, secretary of the Illinois Green Party, says an election reform like this already is a part of his party’s platform. He said ranked-choice could improve the system by eliminating the so-called “spoiler effect.”
“It gives everybody the ability to vote for their first choice,” Cubbage said, “even if that is a candidate from a party with less institutional support, with less overall membership, who, perhaps, has less of a shot of winning.”
If no candidate secures a majority of first-choice votes, the lowest performing one is eliminated and second-choice votes then are added to the tally. Drew Spencer Penrose, law and policy director at Fair Vote, said one benefit to the system is more civil campaigns.
* But…
Since record keeping began in 1994, the March 20 General Primary Election saw the most ballots — about 447,000 — cast in suburban Cook County in a gubernatorial primary election. A record number of registered voters — 1.5 million — and record-high numbers of early voters — more than 110,000 — cast nearly a quarter of ballots.
There are earlier records, of course, but they’re on paper. Even so, you get the idea.
* In other campaign news…
* Related…
* Hearings planned ahead of automatic voter registration: Public hearings will begin next month throughout Illinois regarding the state’s automatic voter registration system. Under the new system, people will be automatically registered to vote when they apply for or renew a driver’s license. Even though the new system will be more convenient, Adams County Clerk Chuck Venvertloh says it could hurt voter turnout.
- Spliff - Monday, Apr 2, 18 @ 2:04 pm:
Moving elections to warmer months would lower the turnout of workers in the construction trades which tend to be traditional vote on election day voters but whom also would have a better chance of not being able to vote because more work is available when the weather is warmer.
- Anonish - Monday, Apr 2, 18 @ 2:06 pm:
I am all for making voting more accessible, but I would like it to take more effort than finding a Tinder hookup or voting for American Ido.
- Chicagonk - Monday, Apr 2, 18 @ 2:14 pm:
I can’t tell if Fair Vote is advocating a move to a closed primary system. I think that the open primary system in Illinois is great.
The bigger issues to me are the early filing date and primary date, the annual signature issues, and the lack of quality candidates.
- Dr. M - Monday, Apr 2, 18 @ 2:17 pm:
Democratic voting was up 300% since 2014. Early voting plus automatic registration are sufficient to ensure that those who want to vote, can.
What is needed is better candidates (from the right, this year, but this is by no means a partisan issue). If you build it, they will come.
- wordslinger - Monday, Apr 2, 18 @ 2:20 pm:
That Tusk-Dial-A-Vote story must be an April Fool’s gag, right?
- Downstate Illinois - Monday, Apr 2, 18 @ 2:22 pm:
Never trust Tusk. As Blago’s chief enabler only a fool would listen to him in regards to election reforms.
An electronic system might be appropriate for astronauts in orbit, and maybe for the military in an active war zone but there’s no physical paper trail which means it would be impossible to check for fraud at the local level. Paper ballots can be recounted. There are checks and balances in place that the average voter can understand and that any one can follow.
I want everyone to vote who wants to vote and is eligible. But if you don’t want to vote that is your right as well.
- Loop Lady - Monday, Apr 2, 18 @ 2:23 pm:
My twenty something son that that most of his friends did not vote…let’s make it easier for young folks to vote…really a no brainer in these days and times…
- lake county democrat - Monday, Apr 2, 18 @ 2:23 pm:
I’m with Anonish - the state has actually done a good job expanding early voting (I especially like having polling places open on Sunday). Definitely they should make the declared ballot more anonymous, get rid of the publicly available voter info and the intimidating “Big Brother” anonymous mailers too. But I’m not hung up if somebody who can’t bother to make it to a polling place for weeks doesn’t get to weigh-in: in effect they ARE voting, saying the status quo isn’t all that bad for them no matter who is in power or commenting on the entire slew of candidates as not being different enough to move them.
- PJ - Monday, Apr 2, 18 @ 2:27 pm:
Go to mail-in voting only. Oregon and Washington have been doing it for years with success. No more fears of election hacking, not to mention saves the counties millions and increases participation. Also no more having to take work off and wait in line for an hour in the cold.
- CapnCrunch - Monday, Apr 2, 18 @ 2:28 pm:
“By boosting turnout, smartphone voting could change the dynamic of primaries……”
It certainly would boost participation. There are some bad actors in Russia and maybe elsewhere who can’t wait for us to start voting via the Internet.
- A Jack - Monday, Apr 2, 18 @ 2:34 pm:
I can’t see smart phone voting as being totally anonymous. Privacy issues abound on the internet. And suppose some unstable President found out that you didn’t vote for him.
- NoGifts - Monday, Apr 2, 18 @ 2:41 pm:
what could go wrong?
- Actual Red - Monday, Apr 2, 18 @ 2:46 pm:
I really like the idea of ranked choice voting, if proportional representation of some kind is off the table. It allows for a better representation of smaller parties and/or independent candidates by reducing the chance of any candidate acting as a spoiler. It gives you a result that better approximates the wishes of a greater segment of the voters, which is more democratic.
- Responsa - Monday, Apr 2, 18 @ 2:50 pm:
I wouldn’t mind seeing some changes to the primary elections. As an election judge I can tell you there is increased resistance from many voters to announcing in public what ballot they want.
Also, the early voting period should be shortened. You would be surprised if you knew how many people who early voted did not even realize when they showed up at the polls to vote on Mar. 20 (and were turned away) that this was the same election and same ballot they had already early voted.
- DuPage Saint - Monday, Apr 2, 18 @ 2:56 pm:
Voting is easy enough already. People should have some responsibility AND not voting is also a choice and a right
Pretty soon they will allow voting the week after the election that way you will know if you should bother to go out and vote for your choice in case he/she lost
- Actual Red - Monday, Apr 2, 18 @ 3:00 pm:
@DuPage Saint
I disagree — voting should be as easy as it possibly can without jeopardizing election integrity. Any difficulty is liable to affect some groups more than others, and you can bet that those most affected will be the most disadvantaged, and therefore have the most to lose.
- ChrisB - Monday, Apr 2, 18 @ 3:11 pm:
Here’s my wacky election idea: If a primary race does not have a candidate on the ballot, voters are able to vote in the other side’s contest. Since there is no fall opponent, the primary is the de facto general election anyway. It boosts turnout by not making the process seem so pointless. I think there were only two contested races on my ballot. There’s little reason to pull a GOP ballot in Cook County.
- anon2 - Monday, Apr 2, 18 @ 3:17 pm:
To boost turnout in primary elections, change the law so the voter’s choice of party is kept as private as their choice of candidates. What deters some citizens from primary voting, particularly in Sangamon County and Chicago, is the prospect that their party registration could come back to haunt them someday.
- Mike - Monday, Apr 2, 18 @ 3:42 pm:
Ranked-choice voting is quite similar to the “majority vote requirement” laws of the Jim Crow South. Think how Mayor Washington would have done in a second round when he won the Democratic Primary with 36% in a 3-way race.
- RNUG - Monday, Apr 2, 18 @ 4:55 pm:
Using a smart phone app would mean a need for positive voter ID to prevent fraud / multiple voting. And that could / would remove votes being anonymous.
Not a good idea. Private businesses, with a profit motive, can’t keep your information secure and private. Why do we think government, with no incentive, could do a better job?
- RNUG - Monday, Apr 2, 18 @ 5:11 pm:
Precincts actually work against voter fraud. 9 times out of 10, the volunteers and / or judge’s at the precincts are your neighbors and know you by sight.
You would lose some of that using central voting centers.
- RNUG - Monday, Apr 2, 18 @ 5:15 pm:
RE my comments at 4:55pm
Yes, I realize using block chain techology for security was suggested … but, given some recent incidents, that is an immature technology that is not yet secure.
- DuPage Bard - Monday, Apr 2, 18 @ 5:56 pm:
Voting via App or internet is the surest way to voter fraud. Just hack into the database, find out who has or who hasn’t voted then literally record votes for folks that haven’t.
Our system isn’t perfect but leaving the internet to holding elections is crazy.
It is the most unregulated field of business in the World right now. The companies in charge have carte blanche to do as they please and no one ever gets laws passed that keep them in check. They are inventing their own regulations and doing as they please. They record your home conversations via Alexa. They know who comes in and out of your house via Ring and Nest all linked to the internet.
Bad idea.
- Ron - Monday, Apr 2, 18 @ 8:10 pm:
Mail in as mentioned above is the way to go. Of course doing things that have proven success has never been Illinois strong suit.
- Arthur Andersen - Monday, Apr 2, 18 @ 8:33 pm:
-an immature technology that is not yet secure-
Also describes Brad Tusk perfectly.
- anon2 - Monday, Apr 2, 18 @ 9:14 pm:
I’m not opposed to mail-only voting, but let’s not kid ourselves that fraud isn’t being committed using absentee ballots.
- wordslinger - Monday, Apr 2, 18 @ 10:23 pm:
AA, that’s the belly laugh of the year to date.
- MyTwoCents - Tuesday, Apr 3, 18 @ 6:19 am:
Considering that I don’t think there are too many counties with competitive county-wide elections in November and a lot where the primary is the election that determines the winner I’ve always thought county level offices should be officially nonpartisan.