rights citizens have. This entire column could be filled with discourse about how important this fundamental interaction between citizens and government is. The act of voting itself is considered by many to be the cornerstone of our Democracy.

This is why it’s so troubling to see voting become as complex as it has in Illinois.

We believe it would be wise to make the whole process a lot simpler.

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This was the intent of federal legislation called the National Voter Registration Act which made it through congress in 1993. The act, nicknamed Motor-Voter, requires states to allow people to register to vote at driver’s license stations.

Problems started popping up in Illinois when the state refused to implement the Motor Voter plan, saying it created a huge potential for voter fraud and that it was another unfunded mandate the federal government was pushing on the states.

After a judge ruled that states must at least use Motor-Voter for national-level elections, things became confusing.

Illinois complied with the ruling, and now there are people who think they are registered for state elections but are actually registered for federal elections only.

Jackson County Clerk Irene Carlton gave some ballpark estimates on voter-registration that illustrate the problem. She said of the approximately 30,000 people registered in the county, about 1,000 are registered only for federal elections.

It is not far-fetched to see these 1,000 votes changing the turnout of a local election.

We don’t believe this is how voting is supposed to work.

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As the system remains complex, there is not much being done about changing it.

Republicans contend that implementing the Motor-Voter act for state and local elections would open the door to increased fraud because the federal legislation does not allow Illinois to keep safeguards it has had in place to prevent fraud.

Democrats contend that Republicans don’t want to extend Motor-Voter to state and local races because the new voters would supposedly vote Democrat.

While these two sides repeat their points, Illinois voters are stuck with a confusing voting system.

Most officials of both parties believe it is possible to register voters for all elections at driver’s license stations. The technology is there, they say, for such a system to be in place without an increased risk of fraud.

Instead of agreeing to disagree, both parties should address the federal government now to find a system that prevents fraud, while making it easy to register for all elections at one time at driver’s license stations.

Just do whatever it takes to get the system in place. Illinois is now one of three states that do not have a system in place which allows voters to register for federal and state elections at driver’s license facilities.

This fact makes us wonder why Illinois is worried about voter fraud while 47 other states seem comfortable with the safeguards provided by Motor-Voter.

In an age of increasing political alienation, it is more important than ever to make voting easier, not more confusing