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* This report on new voter registration numbers is a bit odd…
Kane County’s voter registration numbers jumped more than 39,000, or 17 percent. Will, Lake and McHenry counties had increases of about 11 percent, 8 percent and 9 percent, respectively.
But registration in DuPage County dropped nearly 48,000, or 8 percent.
Also from the story, Cook County’s registration is down slightly. Statewide, though, numbers are up, apparently driven by the suburban surge…
Registration is up by nearly 34,000 registered voters, or about half a percentage point.
Thoughts on why the numbers are so far down in DuPage?
posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Jan 18, 08 @ 10:37 am
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Previous Post: Goofy Rod and even goofier complaints *** UPDATED X1 ***
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Anecdotally, as a DuPage committeeman, in my precinct there have been very few move-ins since last spring. That was something I could always count on to “churn” my voter list. New voters came in but it took another cycle for the departing ones to go off the list. Did DuPage do a purge during the time frame?
Comment by Anonymous Friday, Jan 18, 08 @ 11:06 am
Did the clerk purge the voter rolls?
Even if people are moving out of an Illinois county, the names don’t come off the rolls automatically. If I move within Cook County it voids my old registration, but as far as I know, there’s no system for counties to notify each other when someone moves from one county to another.
If I understand the system correctly, there should be no drop in numbers of registered voters except when the clerks purge bad names. So, a big drop in total voters would seem to be indicative of a more effective or more aggressive method of purging voters.
Not too be offensively partisan, but the easiest people to cull from the rolls are people at the margins of society. People at the margins of society are more likely to vote Dem, if they vote at all. In other parts of the country Republicans have engaged in aggressive tactics to disenfranchise these “margin of society” voters. DuPage County is run by Republicans.
So, I’d be curious what algorithm the DuPage clerk is using to remove voters from the rolls.
Comment by Carl Nyberg Friday, Jan 18, 08 @ 11:22 am
DuPage County leans heavily Republican, more heavily so than Will, Lake or McHenry. Perhaps the Obama factor that is mobilizing voter registration among his base did not carry over to DuPage. There is no one Republican presidential candidate that has the rock-star appeal that Obama has.
Comment by Jake from Elwood Friday, Jan 18, 08 @ 11:26 am
So, I’d be curious what algorithm the DuPage clerk is using to remove voters from the rolls.
The algorith is based on the first grade math of subtracting voters who haven’t voted in x number of the immediately prior elections.
Of course, there are other ways of being removed, such as moving or becoming a convicted felon.
Comment by True Observer Friday, Jan 18, 08 @ 11:32 am
Perhaps the dead have finally stopped voting in DuPage County?
Population hasn’t dropped, so purging of voters is the only explanation.
BTW, True Observer, you can’t remove someone from the voter registration list just because they haven’t voted. If DuPage did that, its illegal.
You can, however, send mail from the clerks office to verify people’s address.
Perhaps someone should call the DuPage county clerk and ask them?
Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Friday, Jan 18, 08 @ 11:40 am
Convicted felons are able to vote in Illinois so long as they are not incarcerated.
I suspect they’ve been purging voters, too.
Comment by Undercover Friday, Jan 18, 08 @ 11:44 am
People are disgusted that the General Assembly and Governor would pass a law raising the petition signature requirements for DuPage County ONLY. Plus, recent investigations by the Illinois Ballot Integrity Project and the DuPage County Green Party have shown that there are some serious problems with the way that the DuPage County Election Commission has been conducting elections; and ever since that information became public, people probably have less faith in the system.
Comment by Squideshi Friday, Jan 18, 08 @ 11:50 am
“So, I’d be curious what algorithm the DuPage clerk is using to remove voters from the rolls.”
There are light bills being received by widows in the name of their long deceased husbands decades after they passed away.
This may explain why the dead remain on the rolls and someone helpful even goes to cast a ballot for them.
Comment by True Observer Friday, Jan 18, 08 @ 11:53 am
The R machine days of Pate and Lee are gone. The huge majority they formerly enjoyed has slipped since they have been gone. I say this as a former downstater now living in DuPage.
Comment by one of the 35 Friday, Jan 18, 08 @ 12:02 pm
Finally! The spotlight is moving toward DuPage County’s wacky voter registration numbers. I suspect that this big drop in voter registration had to do with a $105,000 business reply mailing of confirmation notices sent out in January 2007. Failure to respond the mailers meant being purged from the voter database.
There should be an investigation to see that this mailing followed the strict guidelines set forth in the National Voter Registration Act. Voter caging has been reported in other parts of the country.
Contact the Election Commission and request the documentation for a monthly history of voter registration over the past year. Also ask for a list of all the names and addresses of all the people purged this past year.
In the six months between the primary and general elections in 2004, voter registration was breaking records nationwide and in Illinois except for…DUPAGE! Some 84,000 people were dropped during this period. New registrations brought the net loss to just 66,000. Was there an unreported plague in DuPage County that summer?
But then, the DuPage County Election Commission are known for outstanding housekeeping. They’ve destroyed hundreds of 96-gallon toters of material through Accurate Document Destruction — never mind that it wasn’t in compliance with the Illinois Local Records Act.
Please contact the media and urge follow-up on these voter registration numbers.
Thank you.
Comment by Uncounted Friday, Jan 18, 08 @ 1:15 pm
I heard Bob Schillerstrom speak at an event before Xmas. He indicated in his remarks that the days of growth are over in DuPage. People are moving farther and farther out.
Comment by GA Watcher Friday, Jan 18, 08 @ 1:19 pm
DuPage is pretty much built out and population growth is flat lining. The replacement population for the old time Goldwater voters are quite different demographically.
Holding down turnout will maintain the entrenched establishment for a few more cycles. Next up will be breaking up those 3 member county board districts in order to concede one seat rather than three.
Comment by HappyToaster Friday, Jan 18, 08 @ 1:20 pm
DuPage County leans heavily Republican, more heavily so than Will, Lake or McHenry.
In 2004, Bush beat Kerry in DuPage 54% to 45%. Duckworth nearly won a congressional seat in 2006. Sure it was an open election, but just 10 years ago it would be difficult to imagine a congressional election so heavily contested in DuPage.
The heavy Republican days are over. McHenry broke 60% for Bush. Kane was a little lower than DuPage in ‘04, but roughly the same.
Comment by Some Guy Friday, Jan 18, 08 @ 1:42 pm
DuPage has an election commissionand the clerk is not involved with elections.
Again it when and how often the voting rolls are clean up effects the voter registration given out by the election authories.
Comment by blagoman Friday, Jan 18, 08 @ 1:51 pm
I am shocked, just shocked to know voter caging is going on in DuPage County. (Voter caging is the illegal removal of elligible voters from the rolls in order to achieve a desired political result).
Comment by Leo Friday, Jan 18, 08 @ 1:52 pm
If DuPage were getting more competitive with D’s you would expect a surge in registrations, especially with the excitement of this year’s presidential race. I suspect it is a combination of factors, including an apathetic R base, stagnant growth in the county (US Census estimates confirm what others are saying here), and purging the voter database.
Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Friday, Jan 18, 08 @ 2:21 pm
Every four years, the county clerk shall send notice to all voters who have not voted during those four years informing them that their registrations will be canceled unless they apply for reinstatement within thirty days. 10 ILCS 5/4-17; 5-24. The clerk will cancel the registrations of those voters who do not respond. However, those voters may simply re-register by the applicable deadline if they desire to vote. Also, the clerk will reinstate the old registration at any time within two years of the initial cancellation if “there is sufficient subsequent showing that he is a duly qualified elector.” Id.
This procedure began in 1946 and repeats every four years, so that it should occur after the 2006 and 2010 elections. 10 ILCS 5/4-17. However, in counties of 500,000 or more, it began in 1944 and should occur after the 2008 election. 10 ILCS 5/5-24. For jurisdictions using the City Election Law, the procedure began in 1940 and should occur after the 2008 election. 10 ILCS 5/6-58.
Comment by True Observer Friday, Jan 18, 08 @ 2:47 pm
Again, enormous purges in voter registration are not uncommon in DuPage County. In 2004, 84,000 people were purged from the database. Think about that number — that’s a significant portion on the database. Why are the fluctuations in the database so much bigger in DuPage County than surrounding counties?
Comment by Uncounted Friday, Jan 18, 08 @ 2:47 pm
I urge everyone to view the short segment on voter caging on PBS NOW. The segment is only 18 minutes or so long. If you can’t copy and paste the following link, then just go to the PBS NOW website and search the archives.
http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/330/index.html
Comment by Uncounted Friday, Jan 18, 08 @ 2:51 pm
The person who runs DuPage elections is the exec director of the DuPage County Election Commission Bob Saar. DuPage is the only county in the state with a county election commission separate from the Clerk’s office. The vote caging purge he conducted in 2004 will happen again this summer according to his office, in July or August.
If you ask for a monthly list you’ll get nothing because he doesn’t keep monthly lists.
Anybody living in DuPage who plans on voting should check their registation now at
http://www.dupageelections.com/pages.asp?pageid=984
and again in September after the purge takes place.
Comment by Another guy Friday, Jan 18, 08 @ 2:56 pm
If these confirmation notices are sent to apartment complexes, the addresses better have the apartment numbers on them — otherwise the post office won’t deliver them and all these people will be purged from the database.
According to the National Voter Registration Act, one cannot be purged from the database within 90 days of an election.
Election officials in Ohio in 2004 must not have got the memo on the NVRA. Thousands of people were purged from the database very close to the election. Many were purged the week before the election. Need I mention that these purges were targeted according to race, neighborhood and political affiliation?
Comment by Uncounted Friday, Jan 18, 08 @ 3:06 pm
Chairman Conyers introduces bill to ban voter caging. It’s already illegal because of the Voting Rights Act. This just spells it out more clearly.
http://www.speaker.gov/blog/?p=1054
Comment by Uncounted Friday, Jan 18, 08 @ 7:22 pm
In case anyone is still reading a cheery little note that holds as true today:
“The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything.” - Joseph Stalin
Comment by Another guy Sunday, Jan 20, 08 @ 7:33 pm