Newspaper: BEACON-NEWS
      Date: 03/06/2006
      Day of Week: Monday
      Edition: BEACON_NEWS
      Section: VIEWPOINT
      Page: C2
      Headline:Our View | End overdue for voting commission


  Twenty years ago, this newspaper supported a referendum that called for
the elimination of the Aurora Election Commission, a public body that had
outlived its usefulness and served mostly as an example of how to waste
taxpayer money. Voters rejected the ballot question.

  Late last year, this newspaper supported Aurora Alderman Rick Lawrence
when he suggested retiring the commission could save Aurora taxpayers as
much as $400,000 a year. Today, we call on the City Council to put this
issue once again before city voters, who ultimately must decide if the
commission should survive.

  The facts supporting the elimination of the commission have not changed
in the last two decades. While the commission was once a valuable agent in
the fight against election fraud, it is now a relic whose mission can be
served more efficiently by others. 

  The Aurora Election Commission was formed by referendum in 1934 at a
time when there was no formal voter registration in Kane County. Voters
signed an affidavit at the polls essentially affirming their name, age and
address, a procedure that all but begged for vote fraud to occur. Creation
of the commission greatly reduced this problem, as Aurora voters were
required to register to vote in advance of Election Day.

  The commission served this unique roll for exactly seven years. In 1941,
the General Assembly mandated statewide voter registration; most election
bodies were formed at the county level. 

  Locally, the Kane County clerk's office registers voters and supervises
elections for every resident of the county who doesn't live in Aurora and
does so with few major complaints. Yet the county by law actually
subsidizes the commission, which also gets budget funding from the city to
do its job.

  There's no reason to believe the county couldn't absorb the
responsibilities of the commission and likely save money in the process.

  For some supporters, the commission's existence appears to be a source
of civic pride because it is unique - only a handful of communities in
Illinois have their own voting agency. But a one-of-a-kind albatross is
still an albatross. They also argue convenience and local control, two
issues that don't nearly justify the cost.

  This is a financial issue, pure and simple. Every time a politician
brings up the possibility of eliminating the commission, the agency's
supporters quibble with the would-be executioner over how much potential
savings can actually be had. We're more than ready to find out for sure.