Yesterday, the State Board of Elections met and one item on the agenda was the statewide voter registration system. The board agreed to seek a no-bid contract with the Catalyst corporation to develop a system that would be in compliance with state and federal law. This appears to be the end of a long running battle that the Board has engaged in with the Illinois legislature and County Clerks and Election Commisions (local election officials). The battle has caused unnecessary delays in this process and may end up costing taxpayers extra money.

For those who have some interest in government, bureaucracy, and election reform, here is what transpired.

In April 2004, a number of county election officials converged on the State Board of Elections meeting in Chicago. The issue that brought us there was a proposal which the State Board of Elections had proposed with the Secretary of State. That proposal would have set up a system whereby voter registrations within driver’s license facilities would have been done purely electronically (no paper) and would have been transmitted directly to the State Board of Elections, going around the local election officials who are required by law to determine the eligibility of registrants. At no time, prior to this agreement, were the election officials brought into this discussion. Even more distressing, it was conducted with little to no public scrutiny, and sprung on election officials at the last minute.

After that meeting, local election officials laid out what we felt would be the parameters for a statewide voter registration system that would put us in compliance with federal and state laws. We presented the board with legal arguments and practical considerations in support of our proposal.

The essence of our proposal was to modify the current Illinois Data Exchange Application/Voter Information Statewide Application system (IDEA/VISTA) to make it HAVA (Help America Vote Act) compliant. We felt the $4 million investment that had been made in the statewide voter file up to that point should not be scrapped and that it would be cheaper and quicker to use that system as the platform for the HAVA compliant statewide voter file. IDEA/VISTA already compiles all voter registration information from every jurisdiction in the state and makes it available to every jurisdiction in the state. It would need to be modified to check for duplicate registrations and to allow for a way to check signatures.

The SBE disagreed with our proposal. We requested from the board the same information which we had provided them; legal and practical considerations in support of their proposal. None was forthcoming. The SBE, specifically then Chairman John Keith, seemed determined to go ahead with a $18 million system without the input of local election officials.

Local election officials foresaw a disaster. By circumventing local election officials, we felt that voters would be confused and that bureaucratic snarls in Springfield might result in our citizens being denied their right to vote. We also felt the all-electronic registration was illegal and unwise.

We continued our discussions with the State Board of Elections, but to no avail. After months of debate, and realizing that we had hit a brick wall, local election officials went to Springfield in November 2004 and put forward legislation, HB640, which made it clear that registrations were to come first to election authorities and that we are to maintain the database of registered voters. HB640 passed the General Assembly unanimously.

The SBE was not satisfied. Instead of working within the parameters set out by the legislature, they chose instead to continue down the course they had set in April. They asked for an Attorney General opinion. The opinions division of the Attorney General is overworked and people routinely have to wait over half a year for an answer to questions which are put to them. This was essentially a delaying tactic.

In the meantime, the Federal Election Assistance Commission published voluntary guidelines for statewide voter registration systems. Those guidelines were in line with the recommendations made by local election officials.

Still, the State Board of Elections persisted. They contended they could be in compliance with the will of the legislature while eliminating paper records. Once again, they were standing in defiance to the Illinois General Assembly, the Governor, and local election officials. Realizing that stronger language was necessary, local election officials worked with legislators to insert provisions in HB1968 which made it even more clear to the State Board of Elections that registrations were to come to the local election officials alone and that they would not be in purely electronic format. This bill passed the General Assembly in May, 2005 and awaits the Governor’s signature. Most observers, and the State Board of Elections, expect the Governor will sign this within the next few days.

Yesterday, the SBE saw the writing on the wall and gave approval to seek a no bid contract with Catalyst Corporation. Catalyst is the consulting group that developed the IDEA/VISTA voter registration database currently in use in the State of Illinois. The SBE has approved a proposal that essentially mirrors what was proposed by local election officials 16 months ago; modify the current IDEA/VISTA system at substantial savings in money and time. The problem is that because of the delays caused by the defiance of the SBE, specifically then Chairman Keith, there will be no bidding process for this contract. As Board Member David Murray said yesterday, “Every time you do single source bids you get screwed.”

To his credit, Member Murray did an excellent job yesterday in pointing out the problems the board has brought upon itself. Member Bryan Schneider also was excellent in getting assurances from staff that they could be HAVA compliant under the proposal before them and that the proposal before them was the most cost effective available at that time.

The SBE is finally getting it right regarding the statewide voter file. The only difference now between them and the local election officials is that we were right at the right time.

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