It has come to my attention that one of the issues the Illinois legislature may consider in this Fall’s veto session is the implementation of the so-called motor voter registration procedure.

For a number of years ,the percentage of citizens participating in U.S. elections has been among the lowest of the western nations. The U.S. Congress, in an attempt to increase citizen participation in our elections, passed legislation to simplify the registration process. This legislation, among other things, increased the number of locations where citizens could register to vote, including numerous government offices such as Secretary of State drivers license examining offices hence the common term motor voter.

The Republicans, lead by Gov. Jim Edgar have attempted to block implementation of this legislation in Illinois. They first attempted an expensive and lengthy legal battle at which they were unsuccessful. Having lost the legal battle, the Republicans have attempted to make the implementation of the law as confusing and expensive as possible. The Republicans have established a two-tiered registration system which even the local county clerks have difficulty understanding, to say nothing of the confusion of the average voter. This two-tiered system is nothing more than a blatant political attempt to confuse the issue and delay the law’s objective of increasing voter participation in the State of Illinois. I might also add that it is actually an unfunded state mandate, which increases the costs of elections in our local counties and to the local property tax payers.

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If these procedures remain in effect, Illinois could soon have the distinction of having the lowest voter participation rate in the nation.

It’s time to tell Edgar and the Republicans we are tired of politics as usual. We are tired of expensive bureaucratic procedures that complicate the average citizen’s life. Let your Republican friends in the legislature know we want a government in Illinois that represents every citizen, not a government that represents an elite few who attempt to comprehend complex voter registration procedures.

Professor of political science

John A. Logan College