Comments on: Illinois’ Closed Primary

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 02:29:00 +0000

Here is the relevant statute regarding the announcing of the name.

(10 ILCS 5/17-9)
Sec. 17-9. Any person desiring to vote shall give his name and, if required to do so, his residence to the judges of election, one of whom shall thereupon announce the same in a loud and distinct tone of voice, clear, and audible; the judges of elections shall check each application for ballot against the list of voters registered in that precinct to whom grace period, absentee, or early ballots have been issued for that election, which shall be provided by the election authority and which list shall be available for inspection by pollwatchers.

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 00:24:00 +0000

This was very helpful - wasted a lot of time trying to find it (most of that time spent on David Orr’s site). I, too, could not remember if I registered for a party at voting time. Now, I know I didn’t. Thanks.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 22:23:00 +0000

I, too had my name, address, and party loudly read out. I am originally from Minnesota and this information was PRIVATE. Only 11 states continue with this system. I don’t necessarily want the three people who live on my street and were voting at the same time as I was, to know my party affiliation. It should be confidential. Furthermore, I was handed the wrong ballot and had to go back to the desk, which created even more of a distubance.

By: Beth

Beth — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 19:40:00 +0000

I too experienced the staff yelling out my full name and party affiliation - very uncomfortable. It felt like a very strange contradiction to other efforts to protect privacy and make all voters feel comfortable with the process.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 19:01:00 +0000

The real problem with the Illinois Closed Primary system is that the party you selected becomes public information, easily accessible by nearly anyone. This can, and in Illinois, routinely is, used to determine who will get coveted state jobs handed out by politicians. How many voting democrats were hired by the Illinois State Police or Corrections department during years when Republicans were running the government?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 18:43:00 +0000

I’d like to share MY experience from voting in the primary this morning.

I filled out my piece of paper with my name and address, and the election judge LOUDLY (and I do mean LOUDLY, so everyone waiting in line could hear it), read out my full name, my home address, and my party affiliation.

I’m not embarrassed by my political party affiliation, but I was a bit uncomfortable having my personal information read loudly by the election judge so everyone could hear it. I’ve been voting for many years, both in Champaign and in other communities where I have lived in the past, and have never experienced this before. The judge who was looking up the information in the voter registration books was sitting right next to him–there was no need for the noisy production. Heck, he could have HANDED the form to the next election judge–that’s always how I’ve seen it done in the past.

Please encourage election judges to value the privacy of voters’ personal information and party affiliations. Nobody wants their full name and address called out in front of a room full of strangers, and there are people who really DON’T want others to know about their political affiliations.

I vote at Parkland College. The election judge’s name was Terry (I believe) and he was a middle-aged man with a beard and a LOUD voice.

By: Champaign County Clerk

Champaign County Clerk — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 17:09:00 +0000

The party you choose on election day is a public record and is attached to your voting record and available to the political parties as well as anyone else who asks.

By: Deadhead103

Deadhead103 — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 23:12:00 +0000

THANKS so much for that information, it’s hard to find. Anyway, when I declare my affiliation, does it get recorded somewhere and does the party have access to it?

By: chris ridgeway

chris ridgeway — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 18:33:00 +0000

Looking at my Champaign County “sample ballot” for Feb 5th - I’m confused and after searching, still can’t find the answer to my question about how the delegates work.

For instance, on the Republican ballot, you can vote for “President of the United States.” Say here I choose McCain.

The next column says “Delegate to the National Nominating Convention. 15th Congressional District.” Do I need to make sure to choose the four people that have “McCain” listed underneath? Is this redundant?

What if I split it - choose two that say “McCain” and two that say “Paul”? Does that split my vote somehow? Nullify it?

What if I skip this part? Are the appropriate delegates selected for me?

What advantage is there to choosing the “uncommitted” person?

I’m obviously missing something I don’t know about the process. I’ve voted in primaries before, but I’m not recalling how this works.

Thanks for your help!

By: Sam

Sam — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 22:52:00 +0000

Thanks. This was very helpful.