Cumulative Voting 2 (editorial)

OUR OPINION

A vote against cumulative voting

CALL IT A blast from the past, or more aptly, a bad idea from the past. The proposal to return Illinois to a cumulative voting system that would elect three House members per district should be a non-starter.

We believe the Illinois Task Force on Political Representation and Alternative Electoral Systems' report, which calls for the return to cumulative voting, is far too optimistic in how much the change would improve governance in Illinois. In reality, it would probably just add more representatives to the state payroll with absolutely no assurance their presence would improve the system.

Up until 1982, Illinois voters chose one state senator and three state representatives from each of the state's 59 districts. The system essentially guaranteed that at least one House member of the minority party in each district would win election.

Angry over a large pay raise lawmakers voted for themselves in 1978, voters overwhelmingly decided to cut back the House by one third, from 177 members to 118 members. The new system also divided the state into 118 House districts, rather than 59, making the election a winner-take-all proposition. No longer was it as easy for a Democrat to win a legislative race in a heavily Republican district or vice versa.

THE TASK FORCE BELIEVES the system that has been in place since 1982 makes it harder for candidates to run, reduces interest for voters, concentrates power with the legislative leaders and leaves some voters - for example, Democrats in a heavily Republican district - feeling inadequately represented.

The task force includes some impressive people - its chairmen are former Republican Gov. Jim Edgar and former Democratic federal appellate court Judge Abner Mikva. Unfortunately, the membership may be more impressive than the task force's conclusion.

The voters of Illinois spoke loudly and clearly 21 years ago in rejecting cumulative voting. We agree that legislative leaders wield too much power, that voters are too apathetic and that it costs too much to run for office, thus discouraging some candidates. However, we do not believe that returning to a cumulative voting system would cure those ills.

Some proposals for implementing a new cumulative voting system call for fewer districts - 39 to be exact - each with three representatives. That would actually reduce the number of House members by one, from 118 to 117, but it would also greatly enlarge the area for which the representatives are responsible. Republicans in a heavily Democratic area might be happier, but would other minorities be happy?

Such large districts would surely dilute the ability of minority groups to elect minority candidates. Dividing the state into such large House district sounds like the recipe for an onslaught of voting-rights lawsuits.

THE REALITY is that a smaller geographical division would likely be needed to keep things kosher with the courts. And that would mean a relatively large increase in House members. Voters in 1980 believed Illinois had too many House members, and we don't see any indication that there is a desire to increase the size of the House today.

We don't need a return to cumulative voting to have better governance in Illinois. The task force is off base when it suggests that a House member of one party does not adequately represent his or her constituents of another party.

What is true is that far too many "rank-and-file" House members allow the leadership to take too much power, believing they will be rewarded for their loyalty in their next run for office. Adding more members to the House won't change this sad fact. A little more backbone might.

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