NOT AS MANY SIGNATURES AND VOTERS

Two vastly different takes on changes in election laws became final last month-- in Illinois it helps candidates; and in Ohio it hurts voters.

ILLINOIS

Illinois SB 1586 became Public Act 97-0081 when Illinois Governor Quinn signed it into law.  The bill made a number of changes in election law.  The most notable change focuses on the procedures that govern the collection of signatures on petitions for candidates to be on the ballot. Previously, there was no maximum number of signatures a potential candidate could turn in, but under the new law, candidates for the state House have to present 500 valid signatures, but cannot submit more than 1,500, and those vying for the state Senate must collect 1,000 signatures and are capped at 3,000. Presidential, congressional and local races are unchanged with minimum signature requirements and no cap.

Jim Allen of the Chicago Board of Elections told me, “There is precedence for this; there have been even tighter restrictions in the past that allowed only twice the minimum to be submitted.  So triple the minimum does not mean you have to stop collecting. A candidate can submit far beyond the maximum, but if they have not self-edited, then only the first 1500 will count.” (Self-editing is when a candidate submits a certificate of self-deletion because they have discovered themselves that a particular signature is not valid.)

The law also reduces the number of signatures needed for local referendum petitions, from 10% of the number of registered voters, to 8% of the last gubernatorial vote. Candidates running for a statewide office, including the gubernatorial race, have to submit 5,000 signatures, but they cannot turn in more than 10,000.

Allen says the new law “does not allow one candidate to collect vast amounts of signatures that would lock out a potential opponent from collecting them.”

Because The Help America Vote Act passed by Congress in 2002 requires all states to have a centralized data base of that state’s registered voters, the bill also stated there is no longer any need to require that a single petition sheet for a referendum contain only signatures from a single county. That change does not count for statewide candidate petitions.

So, in Illinois, no longer will there be candidates driving up with fork lifts worth of signed petition sheets. While that was always a great visual for television and an opportunity for bragging rights, cameras and candidates will need another reason for media coverage.

OHIO

The Ohio House Bill 194, according to Ohio NBC affiliate WLWT, 

“The law will shorten the period of mail-in absentee voting, limit the number of days voters may vote early and cut the three busiest days for in-person early voting. Under the new law, poll workers are not required to direct misdirected voters to the proper polling place, and counties may not mail absentee ballot applications to every voter.”

A coalition of citizens in Ohio is so outraged by the law, they have started a group, “Fair Election Ohio,” and filed a petition for a referendum to repeal.

The law is getting national attention.  Former Cincinnati, Ohio Mayor and talk show host Jerry Springer returned to the state to blast legislators for passing it.  Voting is important to Springer.  When he was 25 years old, he spearheaded the effort to lower the voting age from 21 to 18.  He even testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee in support of ratification of the 26^th amendment of the Constitution.

Springer is a known liberal – and while my conservative views often clash with his ideas, I do agree with him on this issue.  We need more people voting, not less.

CONCLUSION

Illinois and Ohio may be geographically close, but they remain light years apart when it comes to the politics.  Illinois from Mars, Ohio from Venus.