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Darned if you do, darned if you don’t

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Illinois

The cost of Tuesday’s Decatur City Council primary election has not yet been determined, but Macon County Clerk Josh Tanner said one thing is certain.

“It is a lot of money per vote, I will tell you that, because the fixed costs are always the same,” he said.

From the $150 owed to each election judge to the printing of election materials to the cost of voting machines, there was a high cost for an election that only brought out about 7% of registered voters in Decatur.

* Press release…

With the appointment of Angelica Guerrero Cuellar to state representative of the 22nd District, the Coalition for Change IL3 once again denounces the undemocratic process that left out community voices. […]

We urge Rep. Guerrero Cuellar to commit to systemic change to this undemocratic appointment process. We need to enact a statute to clearly define how the appointment process works in the short-term, and change the Illinois Constitution to shift to special elections after resignations in the long-term.

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Feb 25, 21 @ 12:35 pm

Comments

The objections of the affluent suburbanites who don’t live in the 22nd legislative district and don’t have any more pressing matters is noted.

Comment by Nuke The Whales Thursday, Feb 25, 21 @ 12:54 pm
It is time to do away with primaries entirely. They are a party function, and do not actually elect anyone to an office. The parties can figure out who gets official backing without involving taxpayer money. The alternative is to have the parties pay for primaries. Special elections are relatively rare events, and can be dealt with as currently done at taxpayer expense.

Comment by thisjustinagain Thursday, Feb 25, 21 @ 1:05 pm
Primaries are fine they just need to serve a nonpartisan function, they should be open to all candidates, top 4 advance, and have ranked choice voting, akin to what they just instated in Alaska!

Comment by Lindenhurst Thursday, Feb 25, 21 @ 1:29 pm
Despite living in the district, I never heard of Coalition for Change IL3 until this whole Madigan replacement process started. Based on their facebook page, they seem to be a Marie Newman creation.

Comment by Tammy Thursday, Feb 25, 21 @ 1:43 pm
@Lindenhurst:

Why have primaries and ranked choice? Skip the primary, use approval voting, and guarantee the candidates with the top 3 number of signatures a spot on the ballot, plus anyone who gets signatures of at least 5% who voted in the last election.

More efficient to administer, easier ballot access, top party candidates still have better odds through party resources & name recognition.

Comment by thechampaignlife Thursday, Feb 25, 21 @ 2:16 pm
Absolutely nobody cares what the uncalculated suburban group has to say.

Comment by Redditor Thursday, Feb 25, 21 @ 3:31 pm
…Said the self-appointed Coalition for Change IL3.

Comment by Southsider Thursday, Feb 25, 21 @ 8:01 pm
Elections are expensive, true. How about reforming the system so - and this is crazy, I know - the elected rep who resigns a seat weeks after being sworn in can’t simply anoint their successor?

Nah, that would never work.

Comment by JB13 Thursday, Feb 25, 21 @ 8:39 pm
And that is also what you would get if you had special elections every time there was a vacancy. High fixed costs, not much turnout.

Comment by low level Thursday, Feb 25, 21 @ 9:38 pm