Passage of voting bills in Missouri, Illinois appears unlikely
This story was published in A-section on Monday, April 30, 2001
By Terry Ganey And Mary Massingale
Of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Election bills designed to correct problems that came up in November are gasping on life support in the Missouri and Illinois legislatures.
Because of its cost, a bill in the Missouri House was held up in the office of Speaker Jim Kreider, D-Nixa. A Senate version has so far to go before the May 18 adjournment that final passage appears unlikely.
Given the troubles with the election in the fall - ballot counting difficulties in Florida and suspicions of vote fraud in St. Louis - there would seem to be substantial impetus for improvement. But as so often happens in the Legislature, an attempt to deal with one issue gets loaded up with proposed changes to other parts of the law. A bill becomes so heavy that it can't move.
A $5 million elections bill sponsored by Sen. Anita Yeckel, R-Sunset Hills, seems to have that problem. It would give the secretary of state:
* Authority to specify uniform ballot counting standards for all election authorities.
* Power to investigate election problems. If local prosecutors do not act, the attorney general's office can step in.
* Control over a $5 million fund to distribute grants to local election authorities to upgrade voting procedures or equipment.
The bill includes a bevy of other provisions, ranging from restrictions on "butterfly" ballots to the creation of an experimental, "advance voting period" in which people could cast ballots up to 14 days before an election.
It also has steps to tighten voter-registration procedures, permits the appointment of election judges who are not connected to any political party and prohibits deceptive or misleading campaign advertising that the sponsor knows is untrue.
Yeckel's bill needs final Senate approval before being sent to the House for further consideration.
The bill is SB 476.
Dead end in Illinois
In Illinois, measures to reform the election process have been introduced but appear to have reached a dead end.
House Minority Leader Lee Daniels, R-Elmhurst, sponsored legislation requiring the state to buy optical-scan voting machines for all counties still using the punch card method. Daniels estimated the cost of his proposal at $57 million.
About a dozen Illinois counties use or have tested optical-scan machines, which require a paper ballot printed with ovals that voters fill in with a pencil. The machines also detect if a voter failed to vote or voted twice.
Daniels' bill was not brought before the House for a vote. But House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, sponsored and pushed through passage of a bill calling for election equipment that detects errors.
Madigan's proposal authorizes the state to pay for new punch card or optical-scan machines that would detect if a voter failed to vote or voted twice. County election officials would not be required to purchase the equipment.
Madigan's bill has been stuck in a Senate committee since March 30. Prospects for passage are slim because Senate President James "Pate" Philip, R-Wood Dale, opposes automatic tabulating equipment in precincts.
Madigan's bill is HB3147. Daniels' bill is HB1329.
